ISTANBUL
World-renowned carrier Turkish Airlines has assumed sponsorship of the Gelibolu Games, to be held under the auspices of the Turkish Presidency between April 25 and 29.
The airline will support the transportation of the teams as they join the games in Turkey, according to a deal signed between representatives of the two sides on Thursday.
Undergraduate athletes from seven countries (Turkey, United Kingdom, Germany, France, India, New Zealand and Australia) will be competing in 3-on-3 basketball competitions, tennis, beach volley, cycling, cross, swimming, rugby, triathlon and sailboat race at the games.
The games are being staged as Turkey celebrates the centenary of the Battle of Canakkale, which ended as a "decisive" Turkish triumph in WWI.
The battle is regarded as a heroic defensive war by Turks, but a catastrophe for Australians and New Zealanders -- grouped in the famous "Anzac" units -- who were fighting on behalf of Britain.
The land war took place between April 25, 1915, and Jan. 9, 1916 as Britain and France sought to secure the strategic region for their ally, Russia, as the peninsula provided a sea route to what was then the Russian Empire.
The victory against the Allied Forces in the Canakkale Strait gave Turkey a massive moral boost that enabled it to wage a war of independence and eventually form a republic from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire in 1923.
