UPDATE - Nagasaki marks 79th anniversary of US atomic bombing with moment of silence

ADDS REMARKS FROM NAGASAKI MAYOR, CHANGES DECK

By Alperen Aktas

ISTANBUL (AA) – Japan's historic port city of Nagasaki solemnly observed a moment of silence Friday to mark the 79th anniversary of its atomic bombing by the United States during World War II.

At 11.02 a.m. local time (0202GMT), the exact moment in 1945 when a USAAF B-29 airplane released the plutonium bomb codenamed "Fat Man" over Nagasaki, the city fell silent in remembrance.

The tragic event is especially significant as Nagasaki remains the last place in history to have suffered an atomic bomb attack.

"The government of Japan, the only state attacked by atomic bombs in war, must express a serious attitude of pursuing a world without nuclear weapons," said Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki, speaking at a ceremony marking the anniversary.

"As a step toward this, we call for the Japanese government to sign and ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons as soon as possible," he said, as quoted by Japan’s Mainichi daily.

He also called for the Japanese government "to firmly uphold the principle of peace embodied in the Constitution of Japan and to demonstrate its leadership in international efforts to ease the heightened tension in Northeast Asia and advance disarmament in the region, such as the Northeast Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone initiative."

The commemoration was marred by controversy, however, as some ambassadors withdrew from the peace ceremony following the city's decision not to invite Israel.

Suzuki said the decision was “not politically motivated.”

US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel and British Ambassador to Japan Julia Longbottom are skipping the ceremony in response to Nagasaki not inviting Israel.

Japan has also not invited Russia as well as Belarus to these events since Moscow launched its “special military operation” against Ukraine in February 2022.