Birgül Erken, an apnea champion who represents Turkey in international competitions performed a commemorative dive on Tuesday to commemorate the dead soldiers of the victory of Çanakkale in the First World War. March 18 will mark the 107th anniversary of the battle.
Erken, born and bred in the western province of Turkey of Çanakkale, where she works as a teacher, jumped into the Mediterranean Sea in the beginning hours of Tuesday from Anzac Cove. As she touched the remains of The British SS Milo in depth of 7 meters (22.9 ft), she unfurled a Turkish flag in memory of soldiers who died fighting the forces ofinvasion during the famous Gallipoli campaign. “I dedicate this to all the revered martyrs and to our soldiers who currently to serve for their patriotism duty“, she said after completing diving.
The 50-year-the old diver chose the wreck of a 70 meter British transport vessel for son dive. The ship was recently opened for diving tourism. It was one of most grand at join the campaign in the Çanakkale Strait (Dardanelles) and was sunk by son own crew as a breakwater. He is also among the most visible wrecks at the bottom of the sea surrounding the Gelibolu peninsula (Gallipoli), where the troops of the Ottoman army resisted off the forces ofinvasion seeking to reach Istanbul, the capital of The Ottoman empire.
“What I really have want with this dive is to raise awareness of our history to Turkish youth. They can visit here and see the underwater park. An important chapter of history is under these waters,” she told Anadolu Agency (AA) after the dive.
Erken said that as native of Çanakkale, she grew up up listen to the stories of heroic of soldiers fought here and thought of during his dive. “I was thinking of the difficulties they went through and became emotional. It was a ‘great the war’ as on Called him back back then, but it was also a war fought fairly, unlike wars today where children civilians are killed,” she said, referring to the ongoing war between Russia and the Ukraine.
