A number of church services and school parades took place on Saturday to mark the Greek resistance against the Axis powers during WWII when Greek dictator Ioannis Metaxas rejected the ultimatum given by the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini on October 28, 1940, who had demanded the Axis Powers enter Greece to take up strategic positions.
The message from President Nicos Anastasiades was that “Hellenism makes history when it stands united”. The president attended the church service at the cathedral of Ayios Ioannis in Nicosia that was held in the presence of the Greek Ambassador Ilias Fotopoulos, Education Minister Costas Kadis and a number of political and military officials.
Later, he and the Greek ambassador took the salute at the parade along Vyronas Avenue, outside the Greek Embassy, in which WWII veterans, school and university students, scouts, refugee, cultural and sports associations took part, to marches played by the National Guard and police bands.
Church services and school parades took place in all districts – in the presence of local government, state and party officials.
“When Hellenism stands united, it makes history, when it is divided, the only thing recorded is destruction and havoc,” Anastasiades said. “If we truly want to honour this day, is to finally join forces to face what Turkish intransigence is causing and reverse the unacceptable prevailing situation”.
Examining closely the contribution of the Greeks to the decisive historic moments of Cyprus, Anastasiades said, and honouring October 28th as the greatest achievement ofGreek unity, “we realise the weight of the legacy we carry as a people”.
This legacy, he said, “dictates to us our own duty to our own country”, which demands that Cypriots rise to the occasion, not through wars, but through peaceful dialogue, alliances, and cooperation to claim with unity the reunification of the country and the creation of a smooth state.
“This is our goal for to which we work with dedication and responsibility to create a state according to the European acquis, free from troops, guarantees, dependencies and intervention rights,” he said
The Greek ambassador too stressed the importance of unity both for Cyprus and Greece in fulfilling goals and seeking solutions to national issues.
“Both countries are luckily perfectly coordinated and work methodically for the fulfilment of these goals,” Fotopoulos said. He added that the two countries owe this to the next generation.
