Cyprus marks Ochi Day

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

The anniversary marks Greece’s rejection on October 28, 1940, of an Italian ultimatum to allow Fascist troops to pass through the country. The decision brought Greece into World War II and led to the country’s occupation by Nazi Germany.

Yesterday in Nicosia, war veterans were joined by high school, university and college students to parade in all towns in the free areas of the Republic.

Clerides took the salute accompanied by Archbishop Chrysostomos, President of the House of Representatives Spyros Kyprianou, Greek Ambassador Kyriacos Rodousakis, as well as senior political and military leaders.

Earlier in the day, Archbishop Chrysostomos officiated a church service held at St. John’s Cathedral in Nicosia.

In his message for the ‘Ochi’ celebration, Education Minister Ouranios Ioannides aimed his statement at the Cypriot youth.

“The epic war-time period of 1940-44, is the greatest moral feat of Hellenism, and a symbol of resistance to any form of fait accompli. In the uphill road of our struggle for saving Cyprus, you are the pioneers. In your course you are being watched by the 1940 fighters, and the ever-burning memory of our occupied areas and homes.”

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.