A sculpture will be erected in central Melbourne to commemorate the friendship and respect shared between Australia and Turkey.
The president of the Turkish sub-branch of Victoria RSL, Brimbank resident Ramazan Altintas, last week announced the final stage of the five-year long project.
The Australian Turkish Friendship Memorial Sculpture, Seeds Of Friendship, is a Turkish-Australian community project that will mark the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings in 2015.
Mr Altintas said the project would help remembrance of Australian and Turkish soldiers who fought for their countries and formed friendships during war.
“This is in their memory – for both Australian and Turkish soldiers,” Mr Altintas said.
He hoped the sculpture would educate and remind future generations of the friendships forged by soldiers at Gallipoli.
“We have forefathers who fought on both sides, we don’t have a side … they fought for us, they fought for Australia, they fought for Turkey,” Mr Altintas said.
The sculpture will be erected along Birdwood Avenue in Kings Domain, close to the Shrine of Remembrance.
Artist Matthew Harding has embraced the theme of camaraderie and friendship in the sculpture, which will include two hand-carved granite seed cones, a pine from Turkey and a casuarina from Australia, to represent the fallen, the seeds of friendship and the future.
