Turkish president visits marines cemetery in Portsmouth

PORTSMOUTH (A.A) - Turkish President Abdullah Gul on Thursday visited the Turkish Marines Cemetery in Portsmouth as part of his formal trip to Britain. Gul laid a wreath over a stone placard carved in the memory of Ottoman Turkish marines who died in 1850 while on training in Portsmouth. "This is where the Marines are buried. They have set sail to the land of Grace and so They have reached the realm of God and sleep in their eternal rest," the placard reads.     The Turkish Marines Cemetery was opened in 1993 to commemorate 26 Ottoman Turkish marines who lost their lives to a cholera epidemic and other diseases within six-and-a-half months after they have arrived in Portsmouth in two Ottoman naval vessels, Mirat-i Zafer and Sirag-i Bahri, to take training in artillery firing and navigation.