Martyrs’ Remembrance Day and Çanakkale Naval Victory program was held at the Biruni University Conference Hall on Monday, March 18, 2024 at 10:00. The program continued with the singing of the National Anthem after a two-minute moment of silence in memory of Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and all our martyrs. Then, Dean of the Faculty of Education Prof. Dr. Adnan Ömerustaoğlu was invited to the podium to make a speech on the meaning and importance of the day.
Taking the stage, Dean Ömerustaoğlu said, “There are important phases in the history of nations. The Battle of Gallipoli on March 18 is one of the most important dates that this nation has gone through an epic event. Halide Edip Adıvar was asked about the Battle of Çanakkale and she said, ‘It is the test of the Turk with fire’. There was a test with fire. We are the sons of a nation that successfully completed that test with a clean slate.” Stating that 211 thousand people were martyred during the war, Dean Ömerustaoğlu said that more than 100 thousand of our martyrs were educated people and said, “The Medical School could not held a graduation in 1921 because all the graduates of that year were martyred in Çanakkale. Kastamonu High School could not hold a graduation in 1914, 1915, 1916, 1917 and 1918.” He also underlined that many other high schools like these could not hold graduations. He added that in addition to all these losses we suffered, the enemy also suffered hundreds of thousands of losses. Dean Ömerustaoğlu said, “They were going to evacuate Asia Minor. It was not only Istanbul that was to be evacuated. Anatolia was what they called Asia Minor. That is why the enemy armies were gathering so hard and ruthlessly. Their aim was to completely remove a nation from Anatolia and Istanbul. It was very clear, the Turks were going to evacuate Asia Minor.” and continued his words as follows, “The war was not only in Çanakkale. The war was at Kût’ül Amâre, all of Arabia revolted and the British were gathering. The war was in Medina, but Fahreddin Pasha was saying that he would not let our Prophet’s grave be trampled on, despite everything. At Kût’ül- Amâre, Halil Kut Pasha was saying that he would not surrender the homeland. He really did so. He took 10 thousand British prisoners there. They buried the British to the ground. That is how our ancestors fought. That’s how they were martyred. They were not going to leave Anatolia. Alparslan said that “I gave you a homeland 900 years ago. He said it would be the homeland of Turks forever.” Continuing his words, Dean Ömerustaoğlu said, “We are the grandchildren of martyrs, the children of martyrs. We are the children of a nation that defended a homeland like this. We will keep this in mind.”
The program ended with Duygu Sarıyer, President of the ‘Literature and Poetry Society’, performing Mehmet Akif Ersoy’s poem ‘To the Martyrs of Çanakkale’, Faculty of Medicine (English) students Sena Melek and Alp Ongun, who accompanied her with the baglama, performing the ‘Çanakkale Folk Song’ and ‘Çökertme’ folk song. Molecular Biology and Genetics student Zeynep Yaren Dinçer and Speech and Language Therapy student Büşra Kevser Can gave a speech titled ‘Homeland, Nation, Çanakkale’. Afterwards, a group photo was taken with all participants.
