The ways to improve the relations between Gonzaga High School and our school were discussed during the meeting.
On the occasion of the visit of NFL Parliament Speaker, an emotional concert to commemorate the fallen soldiers of both nations at Gallipoli Campaign was also held at our school.
The event started with a moment of silence in remembrance of the fallen soldiers of Turkey and Canada at wars.
The music teachers of our school Ali Salih Köse, Aysun Açıkalın Yiğit and the students Selin Ünal and Deniz Chousein performed four songs respectively;
1. “Çanakkale içinde vurdular beni” (they shot me inside Çanakkale) song was sung in remembrance of the fallen students of our school and soldiers of Turkey at the Battle of Gallipoli.
2. “Ah bir ataş ver” (Give me a light) song was sung in memory of the fallen soldiers of Turkey at Gallipoli Campaign and the crew of Dumlupınar submarine who lost their lives due to a collision with a ship in the waters of Gallipoli. The real story of the song is a saddening one;
Returning from a long journey, Dumlupınar submarine crashed with a Swedish tanker and sank in a few minutes on April 4 1953. The 22 out of the 81 crew members survived from the collision and took refuge in the torpedo room of the submarine. After managing to contact the rescue teams via the buoy, the survivors started to wait for the rescue operation.
They were told not to smoke, not to sing, not to make extra movements as they were running out of oxygen. After hours of rescue efforts for the survivors, it was realised that there was nothing to do for the crew, Sadly, they were informed that they could talk with each other, sing and even smoke.
Following the aforementioned message to the survivors of the submarine, the people of Turkey began to listen to “Ah bir ataş ver” song sung by 22 courageous men through the phone line. Unfortunately, the endeavors to keep them alive failed and only 5 seamen who were in the sail at the time of the collusion were able to cling to the life.
The Ocean Ranger oil drilling rig disaster which occurred in the North Atlantic Sea off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, on 15 February 1982 is one of the deadliest offshore oil rig accidents in history. The offshore oil drilling capsized and sank killing 84 crew members aboard including five former Gonzaga students, the partner school of our school.
Each year, annual Ocean Ranger remembrance service is held at Gonzaga High School.
A video regarding Ocean Ranger Memorial Service held at Gonzaga High School was screened ahead of the "Ah bir ataş ver" song.
The abovementioned song was also sung in memory of the victims of Ocean Ranger oil rig disaster.
3. “The Fields of Athenry” song was sung in memory of the victims of the Great Famine in Ireland and the Irish people who emigrated to Canada due to Great Hunger. According to the National Household Survey 2011, the population of Irish ancestry is around 5 million in Canada.With regard to the Statistics Canada 2006 census, 21.5% of Newfoundlanders claim Irish ancestry. Therefore “The Fields of Athenry” song is a meaningful one for the citizens of Canada as well.
4. “Soldiers cry” song was sung for the fallen soldiers of Canada at the Battle of Gallipoli and the other battles.
Note: The National War Memorial of Canada, the names of the victims of the Ocean Ranger oil disaster, the visit of the Canadian delegation to Gallipoli, tree donation made for the fallen soldiers of Canada & Turkey in connection with the visit of NFL House Speaker to our school on January 26, 2017 and the names of the martyred students of Kabatas High School at the Battle of Gallipoli are seen on the photos as well.
September 21, 2018
