A mannequin dressed as an Aussie Digger attracts criticism at Gallipoli exhibition in Istanbul

IT is the image which epitomises our Anzac campaign, yet it’s riled our one-time enemies on the eve of the Gallipoli centenary. So just why are the Turks so cranky?

Gallipoli 1915 exhibition at Bank Museum in Istanbul that opened on March 7th 2015. Museum assistant manager Aysegul Okan Saglam. Picture: Ella Pellegrini

A MANNEQUIN dressed as an Aussie Digger in an exhibition on Gallipoli in central Istanbul has attracted criticism from some visitors, affronted by the life-size depiction of the “invader” who stormed their beaches 100 years ago.

But Isbank Museum curators have defended the display, declaring it a neutral portrayal of the battle and explaining to visitors the Australians, like the Turks, were just “innocent boys” ordered to their deaths by their respective empires.

The modest exhibition in the heart of the tourist district of Eminonu has attracted more than 50,000 visitors including 5000 in school groups since it opened last month, overwhelming directors by its popularity.

Museum assistant manager Aysegul Okan Saglam said she could not explain why it had un-expectantly become such a huge attraction, suggesting there had never been such a display before and many people did not know much about the battle.

But Turkish nationalists have branded the inclusion of the dummy in Aussie khaki garb an affront to the 250,000 Turks killed or wounded in the campaign.

“We have always been friends with the Anzacs, we understand they came because of the British Empire and actually they are innocent young people too so we don’t see them as enemies,” Ms Saglam said.

“Of course some people are quite nationalist and when they see the Australian soldier they ask why we put that there. We tell them it’s the war, those people are not the guilt to be there, it was a world war of the time, an imperial world so we are trying to tell people and educate and show them it’s another world not today.

“We say we are in the middle, the story is not just about the Turkish people, we are neutral and especially with the Anzacs, they were there because of the British.”

Ms Saglam said the critics in the end agree with the argument.

The exhibition, which took one and a half months to construct and includes a life-size recreation of an Anzac trench and numerous original items from Rising Sun badges to bullets, focuses on many mini stories including that of Victorian born doctor Charles Ryan who fought for the Turks in the Balkans then against them in Gallipoli. The trench banter is also covered.

“For the children’s group particularly we tell them the history of people like the dialogue between the Anzacs and Turks, swapping of cigarettes and biscuits and these sorts of things,” Ms Saglam said.

The exhibition is on until August.

Originally published as A mannequin dressed as an Aussie Digger attracts criticism at Gallipoli exhibition in Istanbul