The House of Representatives of Cyprus on Thursday, April 18 evening observed a minute’s silence for the victims of the Armenian Genocide, with the body pledging to “fight for a world where peace and justice prevail and where the atrocities of the past never happen again”, Cyprus Mail reports.

In remarks, acting House President Zacharias Koulias noted that April 24 marks the “black anniversary” of the Armenian genocide.

Over the span of several years, he noted, millions of Armenians were “violently displaced, subjected to hardship and massacred, in a relentless attempt at extinguishing their existence”.

Koulias recalled also that the Republic of Cyprus was the second nation in the world to recognise the Armenian genocide, in 1975.

Observed on April 24, Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day is held annually to commemorate the victims of the Armenian genocide of 1915.