Government present at ANZAC Day
The Government of Timor-Leste, represented by the Minister of State and of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Agio Pereira, participated in the commemoration of ANZAC Day, on April 25th, in the garden of Cristo-Rei, in Dili. It was an opportunity to bring together soldiers from different nationalities, retired and still serving, recalling long standing historical ties, which are of great importance for our common future.
During his speech, the Minister Agio Pereira highlighted the fact that a delegation led by veteran President-elect Francisco Guterres Lu-Olo went to Australia for the commemorations, where former members of FALINTIL marched “together with Australian and New Zealand service personnel through the streets of Brisbane (in Queensland), as part of that city´s commemorations of ANZAC Day”. He added that assistance from the Timorese population to Australian soldiers during the Japanese occupation of our territory “were to cost us Timorese greatly. The handful that are still alive today” he said ,“continue to tell that without the support of the Timorese who assisted them all would have been lost”.
The ceremony in Dili had the presence of members of the Australian and New Zealand security forces, FALINTIL members, representatives of the Timorese veterans, along with Australian, New Zealand and Turkish citizens and their families.
