A hundred years ago, Levent Ozgurler’s great grandfather and great uncle fought on the battlefields of Gallipoli with the Turkish army.
Now, Mr Ozgurler calls Australia home.
He migrated to Australia with his family from the Turkish city of Corum when he was about six.
He went to school here, works here and has raised his family here. He’s a proud Aussie as much as he is a proud Turk.
In April every year, Mr Ozgurler remembers all the great men – the Johnnies and the Mehmets – who fought for their nations. And he marches in honour of his great grandfather and great uncle.
He says that, for him, Anzac Day is “a day of high emotion”.
“I am a person who loves my country of origin and who also loves Australia.
“I actually live this exclusive relationship that was born out of this conflict and I feel blessed.”
Mr Ozgurler described the commemoration of Anzac Day as a “mosaic of emotions” and feelings.
“At the end of it all, I feel blessed because of my family history and that I live here in my adopted home,” he said.
Mr Ozgurler said he’d been brought up with stories and “legends” of his great grandfather and great uncle. Both men lost their lives at Gallipoli, leaving behind a family legacy of hard work and determination, which has been carried on through to Mr Ozgurler.
His mother’s grandfather, Abbasoglu Ahmet Ozkocak, died in the Battle of Krithia at the southern tip of the Gallipoli peninsula in August 1915. He left behind two sons, and a wife whom he loved deeply.
“They were really in love and my great grandmother really couldn’t take the pain of losing her husband in Gallipoli,” Mr Ozgurler said.
She died soon after from what the family now believe was cancer, and her two sons were orphaned.
Mr Ozgurler’s uncle is working to track down more information on both men. Little is known about Mr Ozgurler’s great uncle, Haci Hasanoglu Hafiz Huseyin.
Mr Ozgurler said the implications of the war and such stories were discussed in his family all the time. He knows his story is not unusual. One of his Australian work colleagues’ great grandfather also fought in Gallipoli as an Anzac.
“Maybe they fought each other?” Mr Ozgurler ponders in the lead-up to the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landing.
What he does know is that the camaraderie and friendship formed on the battlefield in Gallipoli continues to unite Australians and Turks today, with Australians and Turkish Australians living side by side and sharing common values.
The legacy of the Johnnies and Mehmets lives on.
