Conkbayırı

“What is this war of the Strait? Has it any equal in the world?” asks Mehmet Akif in his poem ‘To the Martyrs of Çanakkale’. If any place can answer this question, it is surely Conkbayırı, the most grueling ridge on the Gallipoli Peninsula. Looking at these ridges rising some three hundred meters from the sea, have you ever wondered why armies from the far side of the world fought for months over this small piece of land? The answer is actually simple: whoever held these ridges would hold the Strait…