Cyprus commemorated the Greek struggle against fascism with the parades held around the island to mark Oxi day, President Nikos Christodoulides said on Tuesday following a student parade outside the Greek embassy in Nicosia.

He extended his well wishes to Greece and Greeks everywhere on the occasion of the anniversary.

“We celebrate and honour today the struggle of Greece and the Greek people, the struggle for human values against Nazism, against fascism,” he said.

“A struggle in which, once again, thousands of Greeks of Cyprus stood by the side of their Greek brothers to defend Greece, to defend Europe, to defend humanity.”

October 28, known as Oxi (No) day marks the day in 1940 when then prime minister Ioannis Metaxas refused to let fascist Italian forces occupy Greek territory, triggering Italy’s attack and Greece’s entry into World War II.

Beyond the ceremonial events, Christodoulides emphasised the importance of drawing lessons from history.

“The lesson cannot be anything other than the unyielding struggle until the final vindication, until the liberation, the end of the occupation and the reunification of our homeland,” he remarked.

The president reaffirmed Cyprus’ commitment to this cause, pledging to use all national resources, internal and external, “until the blessed day of the liberation and reunification of our homeland.”