The Prime Minister leaves for Gallipoli today, where over an eight month battle in 1915, 2779 young Kiwis lost their lives.

John Key leads a delegation at the Turkish peninsula ceremonies which will be attended by the 2000 New Zealanders who were drawn from a ballot.

"I'm delighted to be leading an official delegation on this trip, which includes veteran's affairs minister Craig Foss, 25 youth ambassadors, Chief of Defence Lieutenant General Tim Keating, former prime minister Helen Clark and opposition leader Andrew Little."

John Key says the eight month battle underscored what it was to be an ANZAC.

"The way we tend to think of it is not so much in the battle, although that's obviously something that we learn about and understand, it's most significance is because that was the time where we really formed those bonds with Australia and what that ultimately meant."

Key's first engagement will be addressing an international peace conference in Istanbul.

He'll arrive at Gallipoli on the eve of ANZAC Day and will visit the battlefields and memorials before attending the dawn service and the services at the former Australian stronghold of Lone Pine and the brief Kiwi conquest at Chunuk Bair.

On Anzac afternoon he'll fly to Dubai for a trade mission in the Gulf that'll also take him to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.