"It was on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month when in 1918, after four years of conflict and strife, the guns fell silent," British Consul General Martyn Warr told a congregation of consul generals, KRG officials, and military representatives in the gardens of the Rotana Hotel, where the consulate is based.
"Peace descended and respite replaced the ravages of the First World War. Our nation and Commonwealth uphold that moment ever since through remembrance ceremonies like this," Warr said on Sunday from the Kurdistan Region’s capital.
"In that time, men and women of our armed forces have continued to pay the ultimate sacrifice in subsequent conflict — including in Iraq."
Flowers and wreaths of red paper poppies were laid before a white wooden cross, built and donated for the occasion by the Canadian Embassy's Detachment Commander Adjutant Jason Forget.
Grenadier Guards dressed in their iconic red coats and black bearskin hats flanked the cross, while a British Army bugler played to announce two minutes of silence.
The KRG's head of Department of Foreign Relations Falah Mustafa Bakir, Interior Minister Karim Sinjari, and Erbil Governor Nawzad Hadi paid their respects.
"It is with special poignancy that today we recall the centenary of the end of the First World War. We reflect on the human cost paid by all nations and people during times of conflict and think about how to heal the wounds of war and prevent future conflict," said Warr.
"Here, the continuing attacks of Daesh (ISIS) and the countering of its evil by Iraqi, Peshmerga, and Coalition forces remind us of our duty every day.
"In this act of remembrance we aspire to reconciliation and from that renewal. And in that renewal we find hope for the future," he added.
Remembrance services are taking place around the world on November 11. Special ceremonies have been held to mark the centenary of the First World War in France and Belgium, where much of the savage trench warfare of the Western Front took place.
More than 16 million people died in the war. It directly led to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, which had sided with Germany. Victors Britain and France proceeded to redraw the map of the Middle East, leading to the creation of Iraq and several other states. These decisions are still shaping events 100 years later.
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