Ben at the Daily Post says
In this week’s challenge, show us your take on a monument (broadly defined). It could be a fresh angle on a well-known tourist site, or a place nobody knows outside your community. It doesn’t even have to be an official monument. A legendary coffeehouse, a churchyard cemetery, the remains of a treehouse you’d built as a kid — anything can be monumental as long as it’s imbued with a shared sense of importance.
I visited Gallipoli and Anzac Cove a few years ago as part of a tour of Turkey. To be honest I wasn’t interested and could easily had a snooze while the others went off to see the battlefields and memorials. I’m glad I did go, it was one of the most moving days I have ever experienced. I’ve written about it before, including a poem and if you’re interested click the Turkey tag in my tag cloud.
For the challenge I’m showing you the monument commemorating the men of the Turkish 57th Infantry Regiment lost in the battle of Gallipoli. The then Lieutenant-Colonel Mustafa Kemal made a famous order to his Ottoman troops.
I am not ordering you to attack. I am ordering you to die. During the time before we die other forces and commanders will take our place.
And die they did, at least 1800 of them. Kemal went on to become a revolutionary statesman, President Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, but I digress, here is the monument.
Join in this week at http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/monument/
Lucid Gypsy 
There are going to be some amazing responses to this challenge, Gilly. This is a great one 🙂
WOAH! – ” I am ordering you to die”.
I’ve never seen photos of this monument, but it looks very peaceful, considering.
Thanks for posting, Gilly. Have a lovely weekend.
Wünsche einen guten Sonntag liebe Grüße Gislinde
Nice take on the Monument theme! There was no digression here. A monument without a story is just another block of stone. I appreciate the history.
You’re welcome to come and see what my take on the theme is:
http://fstopfantasy.wordpress.com/2014/04/13/weekly-photo-challenge-monument-far-west/
Very moving choice Gilly.
such a moving monument Gilly, a memorial of a time great pain and wasted life …
Goosebump-y! Human sacrifice, just grim part of history.
The history behind the monuments is as powerful as the monuments. Great post, Gilly. You’re always raising the bar on these challenges. ❤
Such brave men, Gilly. One cannot begin to imagine what they must have been thinking when the order was given. So sad.
A moving , inspiring tribute.
Reblogged this on Lucid Gypsy and commented:
Tish Farrell created a very moving and personal post about Gallipoli to mark the centenary yesterday, http://tishfarrell.com/2015/04/24/no-glory-in-war-only-brave-men-wasted/ and asked about my visit. I’ve posted several times about it, with photos and a poem. Follow the ‘related links’ if you’re interested.
There’s been lots of reference to battle of Gallipoli lately and I’m sure this must have been a moving experience. Just reading about it gives me chills.
Wow. What a wonderful monument and fabulous photograph, Gilly. In sunlight the monument is almost blinding. ❤ ❤ ❤
The perfect choice of monument. I’ve never seen it in real life. It must be very moving indeed to visit this place.
What a powerful post, Gilly. My son and I visited Gallipoli when were in Turkey in 2012, and it was such a sad story, with moments that seared themselves into our memories. I will never forget this inscription on a monument at ANZAC Cove.
“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 to us 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, after having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.”
Ataturk, 1934