By Ciğdem Munibe Alyanak
CANAKKALE, Türkiye (AA) - An unexploded cannon shell from the Dardanelles Campaign in the First World War has been discovered in Türkiye's western province of Canakkale.
An amateur fisherman found a cannon shell dating back to the Gallipoli campaign while fishing on the historic Gallipoli Peninsula.
Bomb experts disposed of the cannon shell.
- Gallipoli campaign
Tens of thousands of soldiers died in one of the world's most ferocious battles 106 years ago in the Gallipoli campaign in the Ottoman Empire during World War I.
The battle took place between April 25, 1915, and Jan. 9, 1916.
Britain and France wanted to secure their ally Russia, as the Gallipoli peninsula provided a sea route to what was then the Russian Empire.
Their aim was to capture the capital of the Ottoman Empire, Istanbul.
Turks repelled a naval attack, and there were many casualties on both sides during the eight-month offensive.
When the land campaign also failed, the invading forces withdrew.
Victory against the Allied forces boosted the morale of the Turkish side, which then went on to wage a war of independence in 1919-1922, and eventually formed a republic in 1923 from the ashes of the old empire.
*Writing by Muhammed Enes Calli in Istanbul