Recent weeks have seen various claims, including in the Australian Parliament, about the involvement of the Australian Government in the road works which have taken place at ANZAC Cove. In particular, it has been claimed that the former Minister for Veterans' Affairs, the Hon Danna Vale MP, requested these works.
I have decided to release the letter of 2 August 2004 from Mrs Vale to the Hon Osman Pepe, Turkish Minister of Environment and Forests. The letter addressed improvements to the Dawn Service site and possible works on an entirely different road on the peninsula, not work on the ANZAC Cove Road. (The specific section of road where Mrs Vale was actually seeking improvements was the stretch of road between Chunuk Bair and the Kemalyeri Memorial. It has since been resealed.)
While it was common ground between Australia and Turkey that some reinforcement and improvement of the ANZAC Cove Road was needed, I feel I should put it on record that works of the scale that have actually taken place were not sought by the Australian Government.
There is and should be no question that the road at ANZAC Cove was in need of repair and improvement to cope safely with the increasing number of Turkish and foreign visitors to the peninsula each year, and not just on ANZAC Day.
I should also like to refute categorically media reports that 'VIP car parks' have been built at Gallipoli. The Turkish Government is working conscientiously to facilitate access by the general public to locations of great significance, and in that spirit is building a small number of car parks near certain sites. The Turkish authorities might, on certain special occasions including ANZAC Day, dedicate a portion of one or more of these car parks to VIPs from Turkey and a range of other countries, but the main purpose is to allow access by people of all nationalities to these places of great historical importance.
I have written to my Turkish colleague, Prime Minister Erdogan, about the conservation and preservation of Gallipoli. I will be discussing these important issues further directly with him on Tuesday in Istanbul.
I take this opportunity again to record Australia's appreciation for Turkey's stewardship of the ANZAC area over some 90 years. The Gallipoli experience is of profound mutual significance to the national identity and historical experience of both Turkey and of Australia. It binds us together in the past, in the present, and will do so in the future.