| Cyprus ex-president Papadopoulos dies Date: 12/12/2008 6:43:00 PM | |
President Demetris Christofias, who beat Papadopoulos in elections in February, sent his condolences from a European Union summit in Brussels and declared three days of official mourning from Saturday. "From a young age Tassos Papadopoulos dedicated his life to the freedom struggle of the Cypriot people and played a lead role for the Cyprus Republic's cause," Christofias said. He said his close friend and one-time political partner was "one of the key actors in our modern history ... I want to express my deepest sorrow and the grief of the Cypriot people." The funeral is to take place on Monday, which has been declared a public holiday, the government said. "At 1:05 (1105 GMT) at the intensive care ward at the Nicosia General Hospital former president Tassos Papadopoulos died of lung cancer," intensive care unit chief Dr Theodoros Kyprianou said. Chain-smoking lawyer Papadopoulos had shown "courage and dignity" until the very end, he said. Greek President Karolos Papoulias expressed his "deep sadness" and said Papadopoulos had "fought with passion and consistency for the future of Cypriot Hellenism ... always within the framework of democratic legality." Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat of the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus wished the Greek Cypriot people and the late president's family "patience at this time." "I share their sorrow," Talat added. Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey invaded and seized its northern third in response to an Athens-engineered Greek Cypriot coup to unite the island with Greece. Papadopoulos, former head of the centre-right party DIKO who was denied a second term as president, had been in intensive care since suffering acute respiratory problems on November 22. As president, he was at the helm when a divided Cyprus joined the EU in 2004, only a week after he led Greek Cypriots to vote against a United Nations reunification blueprint for the island. Archbishop Chrysostomos II, head of the Greek Orthodox Church of Cyprus, hailed the "never-to-be-forgotten" Papadopoulos and his "active participation in the magnificent 1955-1959 national liberation struggle" for British rule. He was also "a national leader ... who in the critical time ... took upon his shoulders great responsibilities, safeguarding our state entity and saving our homeland," said the head of the church, which opposed the UN plan. Papadopoulos' eldest son Constantinos said: "Today, Cyprus lost a patriot, a tireless fighter who struggled all his life for freedom and democracy." Christofias was elected on a platform of seeking a peace deal with the Turkish Cypriots. A new round of negotiations began in September under UN auspices, but progress since then has been sluggish. Before his election defeat to the leader of Cyprus's communist party AKEL, Papadopoulos steered the affluent Mediterranean island into the single European currency on January 1, 2008. |
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worlds news:Cyprus ex-president Papadopoulos dies
Shrook- General Manager
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تاريخ التسجيل : 01/09/2007
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worlds news:Cyprus ex-president Papadopoulos dies
من طرف Shrook السبت ديسمبر 13, 2008 1:32 am
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