A group of Bosnian university students visited the historic battlefield where Ottoman soldiers of Bosnian origin died fighting a World War I battle in Çanakkale. Fifty students arrived in the Gallipoli Peninsula on a trip organized by the state-run Turks Abroad and Related Communities Directorate on Friday. They visited the cemeteries of fallen soldiers, battlefields and monuments dedicated to soldiers that died in World War I.
Some 25,000 Bosnian soldiers perished in the battle defending what were then Ottoman territories from invasion by Allied forces. The visitors recited prayers at the graves in the emotionally charged visit. Most hail from the Sanjak region where many World War I Ottoman soldiers came from. "I felt emotional walking on the soil where my ancestors roamed, fought and died. Every one of us here has at least one relative who died here," Avdiya Salkovic, one of the visitors, said.
Mirza Alickovic, another visitor, said they were excited to come to a place where their ancestors fought under the Ottoman flag and he would "certainly tell about his experience here" to his friends when he returned home.
