A Footscray community leader has helped spread a tribute to the fallen Anzacs of Gallipoli into 100 RSL clubs across Victoria.
Mehmet Balikel has spent the past 18 months travelling across the state to deliver framed messages immortalising the compassionate words of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, an army officer who became the first president of Turkey.
In 1934, Atatürk wrote: “Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives … you are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets where they lie side by side here in this country of ours … You the mothers who sent their sons from faraway countries, wipe away your tears. Your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. Having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.”
Mr Balikel said he pursued the project to mark the centenary of Anzac Day.
“During this time I successfully completed my interest and passion of aligning the friendship between the Turkish and Australian community,” he said.
The first framed reproduction was mounted at Footscray RSL.
Benjamin Millar
