ANKARA
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reads a poem for the martyrs of Canakkale in a television commercial filmed to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the victory at Canakkale.
Erdogan places a wreath and prays for a martyr's soul in the advertisement before reading Turkish nationalist poet Arif Nihat Asya's poet entitled Dua (Prayer).
Turkish soldiers from Kirkuk, Canakkale, Gaziantep and Erbil all state their names and declare their readiness for the war in the ad.
"A centennial epic. We remember our martyrs and veterans in the 100th anniversary of Canakkale Victory," a voice says during the footage.
2015 year marks the 100th anniversary of the battle in the Dardanelles Strait in Canakkale province's district of Gallipoli, which marked a turnaround in favor of the Turks during World War I against the Allied Forces.
The victory gave Turkey a massive boost to morale which enabled it to wage a war of independence and eventually, in 1923, form a republic from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire, which was led by Turkish Republic's founding father, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
The Battle of Canakkale, which the West refers to as the Gallipoli Campaign, is often perceived as a battle between Turks and the Anzac forces that lasted from April 1915 until January 1916.
