Mayor of Gallipoli invites Nicole Kidman to visit

By Burak Akay

CANAKKALE, Turkey (AA) - The mayor of Gallipoli on Thursday announced plans to invite Hollywood actress Nicole Kidman to the town.

The Australian actress is currently promoting Turkey as a tourist destination in a newspaper advertising campaign and recently expressed an interest in visiting Gallipoli -- known as Gelibolu in Turkey.

In a recent interview she was asked about where she would like to visit in Turkey. “You are waiting for me to say Istanbul, but you are wrong,” she said. “We share a common history, so I most want to see Gallipoli.”

The town’s mayor, Mustafa Ozacar, told Anadolu Agency it would be a “pleasure” to host the Oscar-winning actress.

“We would be pleased to see Nicole Kidman in Gelibolu,” he said. “We are looking forward to sending an official invitation as soon as possible.”

The World War I Gallipoli campaign was a defining moment in the history of modern Australia and Turkey. Nearly 9,000 Australian troops died in the fighting in 1915, compared to nearly 87,000 Ottoman soldiers, as the Allies tried to knock the Ottoman Empire out of the war.

“People who live abroad -- Australians, New Zealanders, English people and other European citizens -- know as much as us about the value of Canakkale and its history,” Ahmet Celik, head of the region’s travel agents, said, using the Turkish name for the campaign.

He added that Kidman’s comments had made locals “very happy”.