Connecting with History: Turkcell Launches “Letters to Gallipoli” Initiative in English

On the 101st anniversary of the Gallipoli Wars, Turkcell (NYSE:TKC) (BIST:TCELL) launched “Letters to Gallipoli” – a digital communication initiative through which the grandchildren and the great-grandchildren of the nations that fought in Gallipoli can reach back a century and write letters to the fallen soldiers. Following the launching of the website in Turkish on March 18th – the date when Turkey commemorates the Gallipoli Wars – the website is now available in English at www.lettterstogallipoli.com.

The database includes the names of 68 thousand 799 soldiers – 47 thousand 867 soldiers of the Ottoman Army as well as 20 thousand 932 British and Anzac soldiers – who have lost their lives in the war. Visitors can also find the unanswered letters of a number of soldiers on the website, witnessing the personal experience of those who have fought one of the most historically significant battles of the 20th century.

Those who wish to write to the fallen of Gallipoli 1915 can respond to the existing letters, search the name, birthplace or regiment of soldiers and address their letters, or simply write to the name that the website proposes when “write a letter” button is clicked. For every letter received, a tree is going to be planted in Gallipoli, eventually leading to the creation of a “Forest of Peace”.

Following the activation of the Turkish version of the website on March 18th, about 1800 responses were received from Turkish visitors, some of whom addressed their letters to foreign soldiers.

“Well-meaning people will save this world and we are the grandchildren of those well-meaning people”

Esra, who wrote her letter to the family of Thomas Henry Woon, said “Compassion, benevolence are in our nature. Could we ever have fought you, had we not had to? We have opened our land and hearts to thousands of the sons of your country. This tag is the tag of friendship. Well-meaning people will save this world and we are the grandchildren of those well-meaning people. I salute you with affection and respect.”

Emel, who is the granddaughter of a war veteran addressed her words to William Ernest: “Rest in peace in these lands, because we love you, respect you and pray for your soul too. We join your grandchildren every year as they remember you with affection, respect and longing. I wish I could ask you: Were you hungry? Thirsty? Were you cold? Who did you miss? I would have been scared, were you, too? I know that you probably do not have a grave, but I’ll pray for you too when I visit Gallipoli. As we say around here, I hope paradise is your home now.”

In a letter addressed to a soldier named “Alexander”, a Turkish visitor who provided her name as Sinem said “You were forced to share the destiny of my ancestors, albeit on the enemy side. I hope that you are resting in peace in heaven with those who had to share the same fate.”

The introductory video of the project can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnwNISX2P1A

ABOUT TURKCELL: Turkcell is a converged communication and technology services player in Turkey. Turkcell Group has approximately 68.8 million mobile, fixed and IPTV subscribers as of December 31, 2015. Turkcell was one of the first among the global operators to have implemented HSPA+. It has announced two new HSPA+ Technologies on its 3G network to meet rising data usage. Having successfully integrated 3C-HSDPA and DC-HSUPA Technologies, it became the first mobile operator in the world to enable peak speed of 63.3 Mbps downlink while also enabled an 11.5 Mbps uplink on a 3G network. Turkcell is the first telecom operator to offer households fiber broadband connection at speeds of up to 1,000 Mbps in Turkey. As of December 2015, Turkcell’s population coverage is at 99.85% in 2G and 95.03% in 3G. Turkcell Group reported a TRY12.8 billion (US$4.7 billion) revenue with total assets of TRY26.2 billion (US$9.0 billion) as of December 31, 2015. It has been listed on the NYSE and the BIST since July 2000, and is the only NYSE-listed company in Turkey. Read more at www.turkcell.com.tr

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