Students parade for ‘Ochi’ day

PRESIDENT Glafcos Clerides yesterday took the salute outside the Greek embassy in Nicosia from a parade of students on the occasion of Greek ‘Ochi’ Day.

The anniversary marks Greece’s 1940 refusal to allow Mussolini’s forces to occupy strategic points in Greece.

High school, university and college students joined war veterans to parade in all towns across Cyprus. Clerides was joined in Nicosia by Archbishop Chrysostomos, Acting House President Nicos Anastassiades and Greek Ambassador Kyriacos Rodousakis. In Larnaca, the salute was taken by Health Minister Christos Solomis, while in Limassol the duty fell to Foreign Minister Yiannakis Cassoulides, and in Paphos to Defence Minister Yiannakis Omirou.

Earlier in the day, Archbishop Chrysostomos officiated at a church service at St John’s Cathedral in Nicosia, after which he called for unity in order to restore human rights on the island.

Describing the anniversary as “reminiscent” of today’s struggles to secure freedom, the Archbishop said pondering on October 28 “makes us realise our problem and the need to be united to face the dangers” still ahead.

Chrysostomos also repeated that he was against a federal solution for Cyprus, as this would lead to an influx of Turkish settlers.

He said nobody would be able to prevent this, as “they will be under Turkish control”.

“United, we should all pursue the restoration of the human rights of Greek and Turkish Cypriots and the withdrawal of all Turkish troops and settlers, ” Chrysostomos concluded.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.