UK ambassador to Turkey: Turks deserved Çanakkale victory

Richard Moore, U.K. ambassador to Turkey, has said that "Çanakkale is impassable" on the 100th anniversary of Turkey's Martyrs' Day.

The British ambassador tweeted the Turkish-language phrase on Wednesday, adding: "All the parties fought bravely but it was the Turks who won the deserved victory."

The Gallipoli campaign is regarded as a heroic war of defense by Turks but a catastrophe for Australians and New Zealanders - grouped in the famous "Anzac" units - who were fighting on behalf of Britain.

Around 13,000 New Zealanders and 50,000 Australians fought during the war and at least 2,700 New Zealanders and 8,700 Australians were killed. Ottoman forces lost almost 60,000 soldiers. Around 1,700 Indian soldiers, fighting for the British crown, also lost their lives.