An elderly Australian woman on a tour to Gallipoli for the centenary Anzac commemorations has died after falling ill while on a cruise.
The 72-year-old from far north Queensland died in a Canakkale hospital on Wednesday.
The Queenslander was part of a Military History Tours (MHT) cruise that departed Venice and sailed to Istanbul before arriving on the Turkish peninsula on Tuesday.
The woman was meant to spend five days touring the Gallipoli battlefields but was taken ill and went to hospital where she died on Wednesday morning local time, MHT spokesman Graham Fleeton told AAP.
"It was quite a shock because when she left us she didn't look that bad at all," he said.
"But obviously it was worse than we thought."
MHT owner Paul Murphy, who's been leading tour groups to the peninsula for almost 30 years, is understood to be deeply saddened by the woman's death.
He has 1500 guests travelling on the HMAS Opera, which is due to sail back to Istanbul on Saturday evening.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is assisting the woman's family.
"Australian consular officials are providing consular assistance in relation to the death of an Australian citizen in Canakkale," a spokeswoman told AAP.
"We will not be providing further details due to privacy considerations."
More than 10,000 Australians and New Zealanders will attend the Anzac Day dawn service at North Beach on Saturday.
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