ISTANBUL
By Ayse Humeyra Atilgan
The exhibition on the First World War, one of the bloodiest in world history, has opened in Istanbul on Tuesday, marking the centennial commemorations of the start of the global conflict.
Organized by the Turkish Armed Forces' Military Museum and Cultural Site Command in the Harbiye district of Istanbul, the exhibition tells the story of World War I, which began on July 28, 1914 and lasted until Nov. 11, 1918.
More specifically, the exhibition focuses on the involvement of Turkish forces, or the Ottoman Empire, which entered the war in November of 1914.
"As it has been 100 years since the beginning of the World War I, we wanted to bring the significance of the war to light," Metin Anahtarcioglu, Instructor Colonel and the director of the Military Museum in Istanbul, told The Anadolu Agency.
Visitors of the exhibition will find a number of authentic objects, including hats, some of which still bear the signatures of prominent commanders.
Among other artifacts featured are an iron cannon made by Ottomans in 1868, a German machine gun, an English rifle, a French telescope, knives captured from Indians, spoons and forks used by high ranking Turkish officers, or samples of soldiers and officers’ uniforms
One of the highlights of the exhibition is peculiar: a piece of drained bread.
"The bread is one of the dearest things in this exhibition," says Anahtarcioglu. "Bread was being drained so that soldiers could eat them for longer times under warfare conditions."
The exhibition also showcases photographs of the Great War.
One of the pictures shows a group of Turkish soldiers, praying at the Syria-Palestine-Canal front, one of the Ottoman fronts during the war.
The exhibition in Harbiye district of Istanbul is open every day between Nov., 4, and April 30, 2015.
The colonel said the aim of the exhibition could be summarized in a quote from Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of the Turkish Republic:
"As the Turkish child gets to know his ancestors better, he will find the strength in himself to accomplish greater tasks."
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