Small group honours Australian, New Zealand troops

A small group of people honoured Australian and New Zealand troops who fought in the 1915 Battle of Gallipoli in Turkey on Saturday.

Employees of a local tourism company placed red flowers at ANZAC Cove memorial in northwestern Canakkale, the site of the ill-fated World War I landings of ANZAC forces.

The annual dawn service ceremony and all other commemorative ceremonies honoring the thousands who fought in the Gallipoli campaign were cancelled in Turkey this year due to the new coronavirus pandemic.

ANZAC Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand for those who died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations.

Visiting the site in Canakkale has become a pilgrimage for many Australians and New Zealanders to remember the first major military action by ANZAC forces in early 20th-century conflict.

The battle was a doomed Allied offensive to secure a naval route from the Mediterranean to Istanbul through the Dardanelles, taking the Ottomans out of World War I.

The campaign resulted in over 130,000 deaths on both sides.

(Representative Image)