This will be front page news here in a few hours and if the credibility of the report holds true then everything that has been done by those that had the fucking guts to stand up and be counted will have been in vain.
I sincerely hope that this amounts to nothing more than a report taken out of context but for this moment in time I cannot restrain my disgust at yet another erosion of value.
[COLOR=sky blue]LINK TO STORY [/COLOR]
Anzac fury at Gallipoli fee plan
February 13, 2004
YOUNG Australians wishing to offer their respects to the Anzacs may have to pay for the privilege, under plans by the Turkish Government to cash in on Gallipoli.
Under plans by the Turkish Government, visitors to the Gallipoli battlefields will be charged an admission fee, with tickets to go on sale as early as Anzac Day this year.
This would let the Turkish Government capitalise on the tourism boom to Gallipoli, where tens of thousands of Australians make the pilgrimage to pay tribute to hero Diggers.
Although it has not been announced publicly yet, Turkey plans an admission fee to the Gelibolu Historical National Park, which encompasses Anzac Cove, the British sectors of Suvla Bay and Cape Helles and all of the Allied cemeteries on the Gallipoli Peninsula.
Gelibolu Historical National Park regional head Ayhan Can confirmed the entrance fee plan to The Daily Telegraph.
"Yes, we will introduce an entrance fee to the national park. This will include all services in one ticket," he said as work began on the entrance gate.
Construction began last Sunday and is expected to be completed next month.
The Daily Telegraph can reveal that the Turkish Parliament already has passed a law authorising the charging of admission fees to the national park.
Further legislation, which proposes spending up to $15 million to upgrade facilities and build new monuments, has stalled in the Parliament, in part due to opposition objections to government plans to lift the requirement for projects to be open to tender.
The project could include a light rail, sound and light show, restaurant and cinema -- prompting an attack from an honoured Turkish historian who warns the site risks becoming "Disneyland".
The revelations also have prompted an urgent investigation from the Federal Government to determine exactly how far advanced the Turkish plans are. Mr Can said that he did not see why charging for admission to the park or the cemeteries would upset foreign visitors or their governments.
"If there is an international problem, I am sure that our foreign ministry will sort it out," he said.
The head of Turkey's National Park Directorate, Mustafa Yalinkilic, stressed that a final ruling on charging admission fees to the battlefield area was yet to been taken.
"There are no regulations on this; the question is still under discussion," Mr Yalinkilic said.
However, regulations or not, construction of an entrance gate on the road leading to Anzac Cove began last Sunday.
The work is scheduled to be completed by March 18, the day Turkey commemorates the defeat of the Allied fleet in its attempt to force its way through to Istanbul in 1915.
The plans have incensed local residents, who see the move as an attempt to turn the site of one of the World War I's most famous campaigns into a money-making venture for the country.
One of those opposed to the government's plans is Kenan Celik, a leading Turkish expert on the Gallipoli campaign, who was awarded the Order of Australia in 2001 for his services to Australian history.
"This plan is ridiculous," Mr Celik said. "This area is not like other national parks. This is an open museum, a cemetery.
"So many people who have lost relatives come here. To be asked to pay to see where their ancestors are buried is obscene. The basic idea is just to make money."
Another angered by the proposals is Yuksel Akgul, owner of the Liman Restaurant in Eceabat, the town nearest Anzac Cove.
"We call those who died defending our land martyrs, and it is an honour to visit to the graves of these people we know who died to save our country. As Muslims, all we can do is to pray for them and those who died from other countries.
"But they even want to stop us doing this by charging money."
Park officials argue they would not be charging admission to the cemeteries but to the national park as a whole.
However, without the battlefields, cemeteries and memorials, it is unlikely there would be a national park on the Gallipoli Peninsula.
Nor would thousands of Australians and New Zealanders, the backbone of the local tourism industry, make their way there annually.
Turkey's plans to sell tickets to the battlefield also run contrary to the peace treaty between the Allies and Turkey, which declared that there be free access to the cemeteries and memorials at all times.
However, Ibrahim Kosdere, who represents the region in the national parliament and who sponsored the new bill on developing the park, dismisses the Lausanne Treaty of 1923.
"Why should we ask permission from the occupying forces for our plans?" he said. "The National Park design is ours and is within the national borders we have drawn."
Mr Kosdere also said that the levying of an admission fee to the battlefields would increase people's appreciation of the site.
"What is free of charge has no value to it, believe me. Even bread has a price," he said.
The state plans to use at least part of its slice of the loaf from ticket sales to upgrade the roads and other facilities in the region.
However, the move is part of a wider plan to make the park self-funding and to promote tourism.
Seeking to cash in on the growing domestic tourism market, the National Park Authority has a number of proposals on the drawing board. Among the suggestions are building a light rail system along Anzac Cove and a sound and light show.
For Mr Celik, who has worked as a guide on the battlefields for 25 years, such theme park attractions are a desecration.
"They think that Gallipoli is like any other national park, but it is completely different," he said. "It is not Disneyland. Yes, they should protect the battlefield areas but even to call this a national park is wrong.
"This is sacred ground to Turkey, to Australia and New Zealand."
The Daily Telegraph