War, not battle. Turkish troops distinguished themselves both in the Russian war of 1877 and in WWI, where they trashed the British not only at Gallipoli but at Kut-el-Amarah and in Palestine, but they ended up suffering total annihilating defeat. Besides, Gallipoli was a poorly chosen object. Only three years before, the Italian Navy had successfully stormed the Straits and bombed Gallipoli to put an end to the Italian-Turkish war (in which Italy conquered Lybya and Rhodes). Gallipoli and the Straits generally were an obvious target.