Tassos (Efstathios) Nikolaou Papadopoulos (in Greek, Τάσσος Νικολάου Παπαδόπουλος– 7 January 1934 – 12 December 2008[1][2]) was a Cypriot politician. He served as President of the Republic of Cyprus from February 28, 2003 to February 28, 2008.

He was born in Nicosia, Cyprus and studied law in London (Gray’s Inn, Barrister-at-Law).

In the late fifties, Papadopoulos was active in PEKA, the political section of EOKA.

He took part in the London Conference in 1959 and was one of the two delegates (besides the AKEL delegates) who voted against the signing of the London and Zurich Agreements. He was also one of the four representatives of the Greek Cypriot side at the Constitutional Commission which drafted the Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus.

For 12 years he served successively as Minister of the Interior, Minister of Finance, Minister of Labour and Social Insurance, Minister of Health and Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

He served as advisor to the first representative of the Greek Cypriot side in the intercommunal talks, Mr. Glafcos Clerides, until April 1976 and subsequently he took up that post himself, serving until July 1978.

He represented Cyprus at many international conferences, particularly the annual congresses of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

Papadopoulos with the UN Secretary General K. Annan, Rauf Denktash (left), leader of the Turkish Cypriots ( Source : Aspect of Cyprus)

Furthermore he represented the Greek Cypriot community in many recourses by Cyprus filed at the United Nations and the Council of Europe. Until his election he practiced law in Nicosia.

At the Parliamentary elections held on 15 July 1970 he was elected member of the House of Representatives, standing as an Eniaion (Unified Party) candidate for the Nicosia constituency. Standing as an independent candidate, he was re-elected in the election of 5 September 1976. From April until October 1976 he served as President of the House of Representatives. In the 19 May 1991 parliamentary elections he was elected member of the House of Representatives, standing as a candidate for the Democratic Party in the Nicosia constituency. He was re-elected on 26 May 1996.

On 7 October 2000, he was elected unopposed President of the Democratic Party during the historic electoral congress at which the founder of the Party, Spyros Kyprianou, stood down. At the 27 May 2001 elections he was re-elected at the head of the Democratic Party ticket.

He was a member of the National Council, Chairman of the Standing Parliamentary Committee on European Affairs and member of the Committee on Selection and the Committee on Financial and Budgetary Affairs. He was also Co-chairman of the Joint Cyprus-EU Parliamentary Committee.

He campaigned for the 2003 presidential election on a platform that he would be able to secure better deal over the Cyprus dispute than the incumbent Glafcos Clerides. He was backed by not just his own party, Diko, but also the socialist Akel and social democrat Kisos.

Mr. Papadopoulos assumed the Presidency on 28 February 2003.

Before the Cyprus reunification referendum, 2004 on the Annan plan, he urged Greek Cypriots to vote No, declaring "I received a state; I will not deliver a community". His recommendation is considered one of the reasons for the referendum's negative result on the Greek-Cypriot side, though given his EOKA history - with their implacably hostile attitude towards the Turkish Cypriots - his stand could not have been considered much of a surprise.

The Turkish Cypriots view Papadopoulos with suspicion, due to his stance on the Annan plan and the refusual to ease sanctions upon the "TRNC". The current 'bleed them dry' policy of Papadoupoulos' administration is still in force, thus keeping the Turkish Cypriots out in the cold.

He is married to Photini Michaelides (of the family of Anastasios Leventis) and they have four children: Constantinos, Maria, Nicholas and Anastasia.(Constantinos and Maria are the children of the murdered minister of interior Polykarpos Georkadjis married at the time to Fotini Michaelides)(Anastasios Leventis was the father of Fotini Michaelides)

Papadopoulos was a candidate for a second term in office in the 2008 presidential election. In the first round, held on February 17, he placed third, slightly behind Dimitris Christofias and Ioannis Kasoulides with about 31.8% of the vote, and was therefore eliminated from the second round. He had enjoyed a slight advantage in opinion polls prior to the election and his elimination was regarded as surprising. He promptly conceded defeat on the day of the election.

Death

Tasos Papadopoulos died on December 12, at 13:05 pm, 2008 of small cell lung carcinoma.[8] His death was announced by Director of the Intensive Care Unit of the Nicosia General Hospital Theodoros Kyprianou. Papadopoulos had been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of the Nicosia General Hospital on November 22 for the disease. The funeral will take place on December 15 at 11:00 am in Agia Sophia church in Strovolos.

Links

President of the Republic: Tassos Papadopoulos

Presidents of Cyprus Makarios III | Nikos Sampson* | Glafkos Klerides* | Makarios III | Spyros Kyprianou | George Vasiliou | Glafkos Klerides | Tassos Papadopoulos | Dimitris Christofias

Modern history of Cyprus

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