Fed: Gallipoli ban is sensible, defence minister says

AAP General News (Australia)
04-11-2004
Fed: Gallipoli ban is sensible, defence minister says

By Maria Hawthorne and Susan Briggs

CANBERRA, April 11 AAP - A ban on soldiers, sailors and air force personnel making
the pilgrimage to Gallipoli this Anzac Day was only sensible, Defence Minister Robert
Hill said today.

For the first time, serving defence force personnel have been banned from using their
holidays to travel to Anzac Cove for the dawn service on April 25 amid fears of a terrorist
attack in Turkey.

Chief of Defence Force General Peter Cosgrove has ordered no leave be approved for
travel to places deemed dangerous by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

At least two senior army officers have been ordered to cancel privately organised trips
to Gallipoli.

Senator Hill, who will represent the Australian government at the ceremony, said recruits
knew when they signed up with the Australian Defence Force that they were subject to military
law.

The only military attending would be those who were part of the official ceremony, he said.

"In the past there's been quite a lot who take holidays and go to Gallipoli. They are
not permitted to do so this year," Senator Hill told the Nine Network.

"What the military does is put into orders travel directives that are voluntary for
the rest of the community.

"When you join the military you are subject to military laws and directives and this
is the military way, that they translate these things into orders.

"So what may seem to be an inconsistency to you or even me, to them is logical and sensible."

But RSL president William Crews said it was sad that terrorism fears were stopping
people from making the pilgrimage.

"I am not surprised (about the directive) in view of the great concerns about the threat
that came out in the Department of Foreign Affairs advisory," Major General Crews told
AAP.

"It is sad we have come to this stage ... people prevented from doing what they want
to do, but I am sympathetic to the reasoning behind it."

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has warned Australians against travelling
to Turkey for this year's Dawn Service at Anzac Cove in the wake of terrorist bombings
that killed more than 60 people in Istanbul last November.

Major General Crews, who intends to make his first trip to Gallipoli next year on the
90th anniversary of the battle, said some Australians would probably rethink plans to
attend this year's service following the advice.

But he urged those travelling to the towns around the service site, Canakkale and Eceabat
where many Australians stay, to be mindful of the increased threat.

The townships were probably greater targets than the service itself, he said.

"Townships are more likely to be targets. Not so much the service but the wider area,
particularly people in the townships nearby," he said.

"The service is reasonably well protected."

AAP mfh/sb/cmc/de

KEYWORD: GALLIPOLI NIGHTLEAD

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