A ceremony was held at the monument to the Cypriot fallen in the Second World War to commemorate Remembrance Day on Saturday.

The day is commemorated across the world on the anniversary of the end of the First World War, and the Nicosia event was attended by President Christodoulides.

Speaking at the commemoration, he said “considering our region and all that we see developing, we unfortunately did not learn the lessons from the first and second world wars.”

He added that Cyprus participated in both world wars and said the day’s significance is “not only to honour the memory of all those who were killed, but to move forward with actions to ensure that similar wars are not fought in the future.”

National Guard Chief Lieutenant general George Tsitsikostas also spoke at the ceremony, saying “in these days, when the horror of war has returned to Europe, when our neighbouring peoples see the horror of war reborn, this gathering is more necessary than ever before.”

He saluted “the sacrifice of millions of people, including a large number of our countrymen, for the good of freedom,” and said, “the voluntary participation of Cyprus in the Second World War was huge by its own standards.”

He added that there were volunteers from “different religious and ethnic groups of the island” and said 12,250 Cypriots fought in the war.