Celebrations for the Greek national OXI Day came to an end with an impressive showing of the Greek Armed forces which marched in downtown Thessaloniki on Monday.

The parade was attended by the President of the Hellenic Republic, Prokopis Pavlopoulos, who warned Turkey that its arbitrary provocations and violations of international laws would not pass in statement he made after the parade.

President Pavlopoulos

“The ‘OXI’ (NO) of October 28, the ‘NO’ of the Greeks, was a pivotal, in modern history, act of resistance against fascism and an equally pivotal stance of defending Peace, Democracy and Man,” said Pavlopoulos on the conclusion of the great military parade.

Parade

World War 2 veterans marched first, followed by the different groups (pan Pontiac, national resistance etc). The divisions of the Greek armed forces followed led by the Presidential Guards (Evzones).

After the end of the parade of the civil and citizens’ groups, the divisions from the Hellenic Armed Forces followed with the men and women of the military demonstrating their strength and readiness.

The armoured divisions took centre stage, with people enjoying the aerial display of helicopters and fighters flying over Thessaloniki.

A special moment during the aerial display was when one of Greece’s top guns, the leader of the Zeus Air Demonstration Team, spoke to the public saying: “This people never knells expect to honour its fallen”.

“Happy birthday Greece, happy birthday Macedonia, happy birthday Thessaloniki” said Dimitris Volakakis of the Air Force Demonstration Team.