Harnessing the gallipoli spirit

The Gallipoli campaign runs through Hussein’s veins. For years the amateur historian has entertained visitors to his home in Canakkale with tales of Ottoman heroism in the fight against allied forces in World War I.

In the two weeks since the crushing of an attempted military coup, Hussein, a voluble man in his 60s, has taken his message to the streets.

In this corner of western Turkey, martial ardour is burning again. ‘‘The spirit now is the same as in 1915,’’ said Hussein, gesturing across the blue-green waters of the Dardanelles strait towards the Gallipoli peninsula.

‘‘Both then and now, our will was to defend our religion, our beliefs and our land. This is the Canakkale spirit.’’

The campaign, in which more than 100,000 from both sides died, is being seized on by the government as a symbol of national pride as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan rallies Turks behind his campaign to enhance his powers.

The tactic appears to be succeeding, even in Canakkale, a stronghold of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), which upholds the legacy of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, who made his name as a military chief at Gallipoli.

Last week in Istanbul’s Taksim Square, 241km northeast of Canakkale, thousands of progovernment protesters cheered as images of the Ottoman victory at Gallipoli played on screens. The video, produced for the 100th anniversary of the campaign last year, showed soldiers pledging their allegiance to the nation before praying and advancing into battle.

As Turkey recovers from the coup, in which more than 300 people died and several government buildings were blown apart , the president has emerged stronger than ever.

Erdogan framed this whole crisis very well,’’ said Aykan Erdemir, a former Turkish MP said. The Sunday Times.