Turk War Medal Campaign Bars

[Bobby lee]

I was going through copies of the OMSA journal "The Medal Collector" to sell off and found an article by C. V. Kelly on Campaign clasps for the Turkish 1915 War Medal (sometimes refered to as 'Gallipoli Star'). Part of the article noted the wearing of the ribbon of the Medal in the tunic button hole much like the Turk's ally Germany. On one of the Turkish tunics purchased by the author, he found one with the button ribbon and the illustrated two clasps shown below. His translation of the 1st was "Chanak-Kale" or Dardanelles (Gallipoli) and the 2nd was "Khafkas" or Caucasus (Russian Front).
I thought I would share this information with my fellow collectors. I have several Turk awards in German groupings but have never seen these clasps. Anyone else clued in on those campaign clasps?

[Dave Danner]

Literally, they are "Chanaq Qaleh" and "Qafqas". The Roman alphabet that Atatürk introduced has no Q, so in modern Turkish they are Çanakkale and Kafkas.

[Bobby lee]

Hi Dave, Do I dare say it's all Greek to me? Actually, does the translation into English still reflect the campaigns noted by the author?

[Dave Danner]

Yes.

If you are looking for Turkish information or websites on Gallipoli, use "Çanakkale". This site is bilingual: http://www.canakkale.gen.tr/

Kafkas is Caucasus.

[Bobby lee]

Thanks Dave, will check it out. Now I am on the lookout for these bars.