Greece marks bicentenary of independence war

Greece on Wednesday kicked off two days of celebrations to mark the bicentenary of the start of the country’s war of independence, although events are far more muted than originally planned due to the pandemic.

Dignitaries from Britain, Russia and France - the great powers that provided vital assistance to the nation's bid for independence from the Ottoman Empire - as well as from Cyprus arrived in Athens on Wednesday.

The UK's Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, the UK's Duchess of Cornwall, as well as French Defence Minister Florence Parly, and Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades were among the foreign dignitaries who attended an event at the Presidential Palace on Wednesday evening.

Celebrations are to culminate in a military parade, accompanied by air force overflights, in central Athens on Thursday, Greece’s Independence Day.

But with Greece struggling with a renewed surge in coronavirus cases and deaths, the public will not be allowed to attend the parade, which will be broadcast live by state television.

The Greek independence revolt started in the Mani region of the southern Peloponnese peninsula in 1821 and continued for years without official foreign support.

In 1827, with the revolution almost squashed, the war fleets of Britain, Russia and France intervened to destroy a Turkish-Egyptian fleet in the Bay of Navarino, in the western Peloponnese.

This crucial blow enabled the Greeks to fight on and eventually gain independence in 1830.