Duma chief to represent Russia at Gallipoli commemorations

MOSCOW, April 22. /TASS/. Russia’s Parliamentary Speaker Sergey Naryshkin goes to Istanbul, Turkey on Wednesday for ceremonies marking the centenary of the World War One Gallipoli campaign, scheduled for April 24. The Duma leader, chairing Russia's committee preparing commemorations of World War One, will speak at an academic conference addressing 100 years since the outbreak of that conflict. A Russian delegation will attend the world premiere of a symphony ‘In Memory of the 57th Infantry Regiment’, timed for the Gallipoli event. Gallipoli was among World War One's most famous battles, in which Ottoman troops resisted an invading Allied force comprising Russia, Britain and France seeking control of the Gallipoli peninsula on the Dardanelles strait. Operations in Gallipoli - Çanakkale in Turkish - began in 1915 with British naval bombardment of the peninsula. Turkey celebrates its victory against the Allied attack, mourning the soldiers who died in battle. Naval landings on the shores of Gallipoli ended in devastating defeat for the Allied force, remembered by fellow combatants Australia and New Zealand on April 25, known as Anzac Day. Read more