Fed: Anzac spirit flamed at Gallipoli now burns in East Timor

AAP General News (Australia)
04-25-2001
Fed: Anzac spirit flamed at Gallipoli now burns in East Timor

Foreign Minister ALEXANDER DOWNER says the torch of the Anzac spirit kindled at Gallipoli
in World War I now shines in East Timor.

Mr DOWNER -- in a speech delivered at the Lone Pine Anzac Day service in Gallipoli
-- said it was hard for anyone, especially those who had never experienced the tragedy
of war, to imagine the horror endured at Lone Pine 86 years ago.

Mr DOWNER mentioned the battle of El Alamein and the Kokoda Track of WWII, as well
as Kapyong from the Korean War and Long Tan from the Vietnam War in his speech.

He says the Anzac spirit shines in the dry hills of East Timor, where Australian and
New Zealand troops are the new custodians of the tradition.

And Mr DOWNER pointed out that Australians and New Zealanders now work side-by-side
with Turkish troops in East Timor.

He says the true legacy of the original Anzacs was their forging of a new definition
of Australian identity and nationhood.

AAP RTV kjp/jtb

KEYWORD: ANZAC DOWNER (CANBERRA)

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