Cyprus will mark the 66th anniversary of its independence on Thursday, with the traditional military parade in Nicosia and a series of commemorative events.
The parade will begin at 11am on Iosif Hadjiosif avenue and will be attended by officials from Greece, the United Kingdom, Egypt, France and the United States, as well as foreign dignitaries and attachés.
President Nikos Christodoulides will take the salute alongside Defence Minister Vasilis Palmas, Greek Defence Minister Nikos Dendias, National Guard chief Lieutenant General Emmanouel Theodorou and Greece’s Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff, General Dimitrios Houpis.
Also attending will be UK Chief of the Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, representatives of the armed forces of Egypt, France and the United States and other officials.
The parade will feature motorised and marching units as well as aircraft from the National Guard, along with contingents from the police, fire service, civil defence, forestry department and health services.
It will be preceded by a 21-gun salute.
Earlier in the morning, Christodoulides and House president Annita Demetriou attended a memorial service and lay wreaths at the imprisoned graves.
They were later joined by Dendias to lay wreaths at the statue of Archbishop Makarios III, in the grounds of the presidential palace.
Dendias is subsequently due to meet Christodoulides, while the president and Demetriou will later attend a memorial service at the Monument to Democracy and Resistance in the presidential palace park.
At 1pm, Christodoulides and his wife, first lady Philippa Karsera, will host a reception for members of the diplomatic and consular corps at the presidential palace.
Members of the public will also be able to visit two naval vessels docked at Larnaca port on Thursday.
The National Guard’s patrol vessel Ioannidis and the Greek navy frigate Nikiforos Fokas will be open to visitors from 10am to 2pm and again from 4pm to 7pm.
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