Centennial of WWI armistice marked in Thessaloniki

Envoys from five allied countries on Saturday marked the centennial of the World War I armistice between Bulgaria and the Allied Powers in Thessaloniki.

The Allies’ first triumph “led progressively to the final victory,” Genevieve Darrieussecq, French secretary of state to the minister of the armed forces, noted during a ceremony at the Zeitenlik military cemetery, the final resting place of around 20,000 Allied soldiers.

Representatives from Britain, France, Italy, Russia and Serbia attended the event along with Thessaloniki Mayor Yiannis Boutaris.

Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios paid tribute to the fallen soldiers in a memorial service at the northern city’s Aghios Panteleimonas Church on Sunday that was also attended by Serbian Patriarch Irinej.