Basically yes, at times. But like all things in history, it’s a little complicated and depended largely on who was in charge of any given part of the line. I’ll briefly cover the large truce or armistice which took place in May and then a little about relations between the two sides.

So, after the landing on the 25 April and a counter-attack two days later on 27 April the Ottoman forces didn’t launch another large attack on Anzac for almost a month. Eventually Essad Pasha was able to bring four divisions into the line, about 40,000 troops, for an attack on ANZAC. The attack went in on 19 May and was an absolute disaster for the attacking Ottomans. They suffered around 10,000 casualties, including about 3000 killed against the ANZAC’s roughly 600.

No man’s land between the two lines was carpeted with dead Ottoman and Anzac soldiers whose bodies quickly began to spoil in the Mediterranean sun. After three days the stench from the corpses was becoming unbearable and the threat of disease spurred both sides to action. After some aborted attempts at bringing in those left in no man’s land an Ottoman emissary, Major Kemal Ohri, blindfolded and carrying a white flag was led through Anzac lines to meet with Lieutenant-General Birdwood to negotiate a truce for the burial of the dead. With the assistance of the Red Crescent and Red Cross an armistice was agreed to and on 24 May working parties from both sides met in no man’s land to clear the battlefield and bury the dead. New Zealand surgeon Percival Fenwick was part of the Anzac working party described the day in his diary.

A few yards climb brought us on a plateau, and a most awful sight was here. The Turkish dead lay so thick that it was almost impossible to pass without treading on the bodies. The awful destructive power of high explosive was very evident. Huge holes surrounded by circles of corpses, blown to pieces. One body was cut clean in half; the upper half I could not see, it was some distance away. One shell had apparently fallen and set fire to a bush, as a dead man lay charred to the bone. Everywhere one looked lay dead, swollen, black, hideous, and over all, a nauseating stench that nearly made one vomit.”

Although the work was grim, relations between Anzac and Ottoman soldiers was cordial, bordering on friendly. Fenwick described his Turkish counterpart as ‘a charming gentlemen’, with whom he conversed in French. Clutha McKenzie, noted that “Our men conversed with the men of the enemy as far as limited vocabulary would allow, which isn’t far.” Tahu Rhodes remembered that “There was no ill feeling between the Turks and our men, and at Quinn’s Post they shook hands and wished each other luck before returning to their respective trenches.”

This sort of amicable relationship was fairly typical of the troops themselves, both Anzac and Ottoman. There was some ill-will towards German troops at Gallipoli, mainly officers, but the Ottoman troops gained the grudging respect and sometimes admiration of Anzac soldiers which was apparently reciprocated. According to the account of a Turkish soldier:

A friendly attitude developed between the soldiers of the two hostile sides who were supposed to kill each other. They were giving the buttons they tore off their uniforms to us as a war memento, and in return they were asking for something else. Our soldiers were not allowed to give their buttons because of the military regulations of the time. They looked for other things, and in the end tokens like coins changed hands. At the same time, the soldiers were offering chocolates and sweets to each other while trying to communicate in sign language. The truce commission tried to prohibit this sort of friendship, but as soon as the commission observers left, shows of friendship continued. I saw an Australian soldier who was trying to measure the height of our tallest soldier and our soldier was letting him to do so with a smile on his face. As time passed the area was starting to look like a festival place and those who worked in the area went as far as embracing each other. “

Given the horrible living conditions shared by both sides at Gallipoli, the closeness of the trenches to one another and that war is largely made up of long periods of boredom, it’s not particularly surprising that both sides attempted to relieve the tedium by getting to know those opposite. Sniping games were played with scorecards held up after particularly good shots, letters were exchanged, often accompanying gifts of bully-beef or tobacco. This letter was received by Australian officer Major Leslie Fussell, from Turkish soldiers expressing their thanks for a tin of bully beef that had been thrown into their trenches by Major Fussell at Quinn's Post whilst instructing his men in the art of bomb throwing. The action was misinterpreted by the Turks as a friendly gesture who returned this note along with a parcel of tobacco thanking the Australians for their thoughtful gift.

In the early days of the campaign, before adequate reinforcements were available to rotate units, a single Anzac unit could hold a portion of the line for weeks at a time, getting to know the Ottomans opposite and forming routines. In his doorstopper of a book Gallipoli, Les Carlyon tells the story of an Australian light horse unit that had come to an unspoken agreement to allow an elderly Ottoman soldier to gather firewood in no man’s land every morning. When the light horsemen left, they failed to mention this to their replacements and the elderly Ottoman soldier, not knowing a relief had taken place was shot and killed on their first morning. This sort of live and let live attitude was often tacitly allowed by officers in the line, but fraternisation was loathed by senior commanders for its tendency to undermine the discipline and fighting ability of the men.

But officers still considered themselves gentlemen and so I’ll leave you with a letter to the Ottoman commander, left in the headquarters dugout of the Australian 3rd Light Horse Brigade on the evacuation of the peninsula that shows the attitude of at least some Anzacs towards their enemy.

"The Brigadier presents his compliments to our worthy Turkish opponents and offers those who first honour his quarters with their presence such poor hospitality as is in his power to give, regretting that he is unable personally to welcome them.

After a sojourn of 7 months in Gallipoli we propose to take some little relaxation...and in bidding 'Au revoir' to our honourable foes we Australians desire to express appreciation of the fine soldierly qualities of our Turkish opponents and of the sportsmanlike manner in which they have participated in a very interesting contest, honourable, we trust, to both sides.

For a little while we have been with you, yet a little while and you shall see us not. For us it is a matter of deep regret that the ancient friendship so long existing between the British and Turkish Empires should have been thus disturbed by the insidious machinations of the Arch-enemy of humanity.

We have left this area and trenches in which we have taken considerable trouble and pride, clean and in good order, and would be grateful if they may be so maintained until our return, particular care being asked in regard to matters of sanitation, so vital to the well-being of an army.

We hope that you will find the wine, coffee, tobacco, cigarettes and food to your taste, and a supply of fuel has been left in the cupboard to ameliorate in some measure the discomfort during the cold watches of the winter

Our only request is that no member of the nation who was guilty of the inhuman murder of that noble woman Miss Edith Clavell to whose photo this message is attached, will be permitted to pollute with his presence the quarters of soldiers who have never descended to such barbarous and ruthless methods".