London Greek Radio

On July 20, 1974 at 5:20am, Turkish troops landed on the Republic of Cyprus’ coast five miles off Kyrenia. Since that day, nothing on the island has ever been the same.

Every year since, on the anniversary of the invasion, sirens have blared out over the Republic, recalling the moment Turkish troops invaded.

In 1974, approximately 40,000 Turkish troops under the command of Lieutenant Nurettin Ersin implemented their invasion plan, code-named ‘Attila’, illegally invading the island in violation of the UN Security Council Charter.

Turkey still illegally occupies 37 per cent of Cyprus’ territory.

Turkish troops invaded Cyprus on July 20, 1974, five days after the legal government of the late Archbishop Makarios III was toppled by a military coup, engineered by the military junta then ruling Greece. Two unproductive conferences in Geneva followed; the first between Britain, Greece and Turkey and the second with the additional attendance of Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot representatives. Three weeks after the ceasefire of July 22, and despite the fact that talks were still being held and just as an agreement seemed about to be reached, the Turkish army mounted a second full-scale offensive. As a result, Turkey increased its hold to include the booming tourist resort of Famagusta in the east and the rich citrus-growing area of Morphou in the west.

All in all, almost 37% of the territory of the Republic of Cyprus came under Turkish military occupation. Nearly one-third of the population, some 200,000 Greek Cypriots, were forcibly uprooted from their homes and properties, thousands were killed during the hostilities, over 1,000 persons were listed as missing while thousands of Greek Cypriots and Maronites remained enclaved.

Numerous UN resolutions have demanded respect to the independence, unity and territorial integrity of Cyprus, the return of the displaced to their homes, and the withdrawal of foreign troops from the island, but all resolutions have been ignored by Turkey.

The National Federation of Cypriots in the UK on Tuesday rallied Parliament, with the annual All-Party Parliamentary titled ‘Cyprus – Prospects for a Solution’. The Government Spokesperson of the Republic of Cyprus, Mr Prodromos Prodromou, briefed the APPG and members of the UK Cypriot community with the latest developments on the Cyprus issue.

The Federation President, Mr Christos Karaolis, thanked the 19 Parliamentarians, including the Minister and Shadow Minister, who were present and welcomed guests to the event and spoke of the UK Cypriot community’s hope and determination to see a reunited Cyprus free from the outdated system of guarantees and without the presence of foreign troops, as well as the return of refugees to their hometowns and properties. He added, “what we’re asking for is both fair and simple; a fully functioning state that is in line with the rule of law and is free from foreign interference. Put simply a “normal state” as the UN Secretary-General Mr Antonio Gutteres said in 2017.”

Mr Karaolis reassured those present, that despite it being 45 years since the illegal invasion, the Cypriot community is ‘louder than it has ever been before’ with 376 MPs receiving emails ‘calling for Turkey to take it’s #HandsOffCyprus”.

45 years on from the most tragic page in the Republic of Cyprus’ history, at 5:30am the war sirens rang around the island once more.

President, Nicos Anastasiades, expressed his readiness on Thursday to meet with Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci, welcoming the latter’s proposal for an informal conference.

The UN Secretary-General told the leaders at the end of the Conference on Cyprus in Crans-Montana two years ago that he wanted both of them to get back to him when they were ready with a plan on when, how, and where they want to meet and do a deal, and not before.

Anyone following his career would know that London Cypriot-born singer Kyriacos Georgiou has been enjoying huge success in Greece and a few other countries.

With the release of his new single ‘Pou Na To Fantasto‘, London Greek Radio caught up with Kyriacos exclusively to talk about the song and his summer tour.

The track is “a summer vibe Greek-pop Laika single” according to Kyriacos with an upbeat, and catchy sound, about the blossoming of a summer romance. The opening verses start with the singer’s reflective thoughts about losing their “mojo”, that suddenly changes once he encounters this person, as love sprinkles a little magic.

The song has already gone straight into the London Greek Radio playlists.

Composed by Lefteris Kintatos, a songwriter in Greece at the top of his game; he has several hits under his belt for Konstantinos Argiros, with songs ‘Ti Na To Kano’, ‘Sti Diki Mou Agkalia’ and ‘Oso Niotho’.

Kyriacos said, “He is one of the biggest Greek hitmakers right now. I am absolutely thrilled that he composed a song for me.”

Last winter, Kyriacos supported and performed alongside Natasa Theodoridou, Petros Iakovides and Stan in Thessaloniki and in Athens.

Kyriacos announced his summer tour with Natasa Theodoridou and Stan which means he travels around Greece and Cyprus, including Ptolemaida, Serres, Hydra, Fanari, Sikouriou Larisa, Alexandroupolis, Zakynthos, Halkidiki, Rhodes, Antiparos, Monemvasia, Nafplio, Kavala, Petroupoli, and Patras.

He visits Limassol, Agia Napa, and the Cypriot capital Nicosia for the Beer Festival in September, in the Cyprus leg of his tour.

Kyriacos is currently engaged in career-boosting talks with bouzoukia bosses, to confirm exactly where his performances will be for Athens and Thessaloniki this winter.

Follow @KyriacosOfficial on social media for updates.

Tune in to LGR for all of the latest, and greatest summer sizzlers on 103.3 FM, DAB+ & via lgr.co.uk

London-Cypriot Nick Parpa wins the Southern Area Cruiserweight title after beating defending champion Daniel Mendes, at a full-house including lots of Cypriot fans at York Hall in Bethnal Green last Saturday.

For Parpa, this was his first attempt at a title. He boasted a record of 8-1 with his only loss being against Czech Republic’s Vasili Ducar in his fifth fight, Parpa’s victory bolsters the young Cypriot’s career going on to fight at even higher level for more illustrious honours.

It was a tough fight for Nick and he went the distance in a 10 round fight versus the defending champion Daniel Mendes from Birmingham but came out with a comfortable and a comprehensive 99-91 points victory.

In a statement from the Goodwin Boxing Facebook page, it said, “It’s Parpa who takes it! Winning 99-91 on the scorecard. More aggressive and pressed the fight from start to finish. Really great fight, Mendes was a worthy Champion but it was Parpa’s night tonight!!”

“Nightmare” Nick Parpa was fighting his tenth professional fight.

Nick Parpa wins his first title…

The Palmers Green boxer on his Facebook Page said he was absolutely thrilled at winning. “WE DID IT!!!! #AND THE NEW SOUTHERN AREA CRUISERWEIGHT CHAMPION Nick The Nightmareeeeeee PARPAAAAA. I just want to say a MASSIVE thank you to my team, my loyal supporters, family and friends for believing in me and helping me fulfil my dreams, I could not have done it without you all.”

Parpa had thanked his opponent for a formidable game and the work that went behind it, with his coaching network.

“Thank you Daniel Servant Mendes for the opportunity, he put up a great fight and was a worthy champion. We gave the crowd one hell of a fight. Thank you to my manager Steve Goodwin for giving me this opportunity and guiding my career in the right direction, he truly is a great manager and a friend. Thank you to my coach Joshua Burnham for everything and for pushing me every day in the gym helping me maximise my potential. We did it!!! Thank you to Dave Tausz for pushing me every-day also in the gym. He’s a top strength and conditioning coach.”

His Greek-Cypriot dad was proud of his son’s achievement, Sav Parpa said, “I am a proud father my sons the Southern Area Cruiserweight champion!!! Yo Parpa we did it.”

Nick Parpa is expected to find out his next opponent when the summer finishes.

Photographs: Michael Yiakoumi

Middlesex University and the University of Westminster are delighted to announce the launch of the GRƐNGLISH PROJECT.

Led by Dr Anna Charalambidou and Dr Petros Karatsareas, the project seeks to crowd source Grenglish words – English words that the UK’s Greek Cypriots borrowed from English and turned into Cypriot Greek. For example, pason for ‘bus’, ketlon for ‘kettle’ or experiotita for ‘experience’.

Anna and Petros believe that Grenglish words are unique linguistic creations that are emblematic of the Greek Cypriot community’s history, resourcefulness and creativity. However, they are facing the threat of disappearance as younger generations of British-born Greek Cypriots tend to avoid them.

The GRƐNGLISH PROJECT brings together older and younger generations within the UK’s Greek Cypriot diaspora in a community campaign of language documentation. We invite everyone to visit our website www.grenglish.org and submit any type of linguistic material relating to Grenglish: words and their meaning, thoughts about their origin, visual material such as photographs, stories that involve the use of English.

Anna and Petros will curate all entries and produce an online Grenglish dictionary as well as a print dictionary, a permanent record for generations to come.

For further information please email Anna Charalambidou at A.Charalambidou@mdx.ac.uk or Petros Karatsareas at P.Karatsareas@westminster.ac.uk

London-Cypriot born Alex Solomon signs two year scholarship with League Two team Leyton Orient FC has been playing for various academies since 5 years old.

The 16-year-old attends St Andrews the Apostle School in Barnet.

“A big well done and congratulations to one of our own, Year 11 student Alex Solomon who has signed a 2 year scholarship with Leyton Orient! Well done Alex!”, a spokesperson for St Andrews the Apostle School said.

Alex who plays as a Centre back is the son of Dino and Christalla Solomon who are London born and his paternal grandparents are from Ayios Athanassi, Limassol and his maternal grandparents from Famagusta.

Barnet FC’s London Cypriot Antonis Vasiliou has signed his first professional contract with the club.

The young Cypriot midfielder joined the club’s academy at a young age and has gone onto to make two appearances from the bench for the Bees first team, all of which came in April 2019.

The Bees academy graduate was delighted to agree his first professional deal.

He said: “I’m really happy, I am really glad to sign, it feels like it’s been a long time coming and I am looking forward to starting the new season.

“The club has given me a few opportunities to express myself and I feel like I have learned a lot over the past few years.”

“I have been working hard in the off-season and I can’t wait to meet up with the boys again. I’m raring to go.”

Darren Currie, who has seen Vasiliou progress through the Academy, was full of praise for the Barnet youngster.

He said: “Antonis is a wonderful player with a box of tricks; we think very highly of him.

“He’s clearly showed huge potential in the youth team last season and earned one or two opportunities to train with the first team and he lived up to expectation.

“He did very well when he was given the opportunity toward the back end of last season and we’re delighted to agree a deal with him today.

“He’s got a big future in the game.”

The 18-year-old will join up with Darren Currie and the rest of the first team squad for pre-season ahead of the 2019/20 campaign.

Hollywood actor and filmmaker Nicolas Cage arrived in Cyprus this month to begin filming his new movie, “Jiu Jitsu.”

The film, from Dimitri Logothetis, will be shot entirely in Cyprus.

“Jiu Jitsu,” a sci-fi martial arts movie, will involve Nicolas Cage having to fight against a super-strong alien which comes to Earth on a mission to destroy. The cast includes Frank Grillo, Alain Moussi, Rick Yune, Marie Avgeropoulos and JuJu Chan.

It will be the first high profile production under recent incentives aiming to establish Cyprus as a filming destination under the name Olivewood.

The €24.6 million film will be shot entirely in Cyprus, taking advantage of a programme that gives productions the option to choose between cash rebate or tax credit, and also benefit from tax discounts on investments made on equipment and infrastructure. The cash rebate programme is a rebate of 25-30 percent on eligible expenditure.

The film’s producer and director Demetris Logothetis told CyBC TV that he already has plans to shoot a second film on the island written by Gary Scott Thompson of Fast and Furious fame.

The entire film will be shot in two Cypriot villages near the capital of Nicosia.

The villages of Mammari and Lympia will host the crew of the production team, and their surrounding landscapes will provide the entire backdrop of the movie.

The area of Mammari is home to some breath-taking limestone caves, something that makes it ideal for shooting this type of movie, with its dramatic themes of an alien takeover.

According to reports, the filming on Cyprus will last for approximately three weeks.

Cage received an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild Award for his performance as an alcoholic Hollywood writer in Leaving Las Vegas (1995).

Here’s to many more movies made in OLIVEWOOD… so very Cypriot!

Former Cypriot President Demetris Christofias died on Friday 21st June at Nicosia General Hospital, a month after he was hospitalised for acute breathing problems. He was 72.

Earlier on Friday his doctor, Michalis Minas told the Cyprus News Agency that the former president died at 5:36 pm local time.

Christofias served a single five-year term as Cyprus’ sixth President from 2008 until 2013.

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades confirmed his predecessor’s death expressing “deep sorrow.” Anastasiades said he and Christofias may have been on divergent political paths, but he did what he thought was best for his country.

Condolences to Christofias’ family poured in from Greek Cypriot political leaders as well as the leader of the breakaway Turkish Cypriots Mustafa Akinci, who tweeted, (translated), “With great sadness, I’ve been made aware of the death of Demetris Christofias, a former Greek Cypriot leader and former General Secretary of AKEL. I express my sincere condolences to his wife and his three children, to the AKEL family and to the Greek Cypriot community in general.”

One of Cyprus’ best-known politicians, Christofias was born in Dikomo in the Kyrenia District, on 29th August 1946, and educated in Cyprus and Moscow.

First elected a member of parliament for Kyrenia in 1991, he was elected president of the House of Representatives in 2001. It was during his second term as speaker that he was elected president of the Republic in 2008.

Christofias was the only Cypriot president not to seek re-election, citing his failure to achieve his “life’s vision” of reunifying the country that had been split since Turkey invaded in 1974.

Christofias’ “man-of-the-people” persona endeared him to many.

He underwent a life-saving kidney transplant in 1999, in which the donor was his sister. He also had open-heart surgery earlier in the same year.

John Kyriakides, Chairman of LGR, said, “I am really saddened to learn of the death of Demetris. He was a good friend of LGR and I will keep fond memories of the former Cyprus President.”

An Extraordinary Cabinet Meeting was held on Saturday chaired by President Anastasiades confirming that the funeral of the former President will take place on Tuesday 25th June at the Holy Church of God’s Wisdom, in Strovolos, at 1700 local time.

After the meeting, Government Spokesman Prodromos Prodromou said that the Cabinet have declared national mourning until the day of the funeral, which will also be a public holiday.

Flags will fly at half-mast on all government buildings and schools.

Mr Christofias is survived by his wife, Elsie, two daughters, a son and grandchildren.

LGR express their sincere condolences to family and friends.

Actor William Baldwin, who is currently in Cyprus to film ‘S.O.S. – Survive or Sacrifice’, which is being shot in and around Limassol said he loves the island.

Filming started earlier this month. It is a production by Atladium, which began operations in Cyprus in 2017 and specialises in feature films, television series and other video productions.

Altadium said the project was made possible due to the support from ‘The Initiative of Cyprus Investment Promotion Agency – Film in Cyprus’. With an aim to attract investors to its audiovisual industry, Cyprus launched “Olivewood” last year.

Speaking during a news conference in Limassol, Baldwin said he always wanted to visit the island as one of his best friends lives here. His stay was only a few days but “I definitely want to come back for more time,” he said. On a break from filming, he told Cybc he loved the food and had eaten lobster at a restaurant in Limassol.

The actor said that from his personal experience, the tax relief scheme the Cypriot government applied for the development of the audiovisual industry was expected to significantly boost the local economy and tourism.

Producer and actress Marianne Rosset, who is also in the film, and her husband Vitaly Rosset, expressed their satisfaction that they were contribute to the development of the film industry at the local level and to the promotion of Cyprus abroad through ‘S.O.S. Survive or Sacrifice’.

“We want to show how perfect Cyprus is for producing films,” they said.

The film, directed by Roman Doronin, is expected to be released by the end of 2020.

According to the script, two sisters, Kate and her younger sister – Liz, arrive at a seaside resort. At the hotel, they realise that the hapless Liz has left her passport at the airport. The sisters quarrel. Liz stays in the hotel room while Kate goes out for dinner, alone.

At a bar, Kate meets a travel blogger – Michelle, and her buddies: a local entrepreneur – Andreas, and a tourist – Nick. Andreas offers the two lovely ladies an unscheduled, impromptu ride on his tourist hot-air balloon.

As the result of a freak accident, the wind carries the balloon far out to sea. Their cell phones are out of range, and the gas canisters won’t last long. If they ditch in the sea everyone will drown.

A thunderstorm is approaching, and sharks begin to circle in the water below, but that’s not all: unbeknown to Kate, back on land, her hotel apartment has been burglarised, and little Liz has become an unwanted “material witness”.

The films cast includes, in addition to the well-known American actor, Jeannine Kaspar, Zach Rose and actors from Cyprus such as Christopher Greco, Andreas Aroditis, Maria Ioannou, Szymon Piotr Jedrziczyc, Alena Salimianova, Philip Konstantinos, Christos Christopides and Maria Panaseti.

The Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate has elected the new Archbishop of Thyateira and Great Britain.

The Holy and Holy Synod unanimously elected Metropolitan Nikitas of Dardanelles as the new Archbishop of Thyateira.

Metropolitan Nikitas (Lulias) of Dardanelles, Exarch of All Hellespont, his birth name Nikitas Loulias was born in Tampa, Florida, United States June 22nd 1955.

He studied at the University of Florida, from which he received honours degrees in Religion (1976). He then attended the Theological School of the Holy Cross of Boston, where he graduated in 1980 and then completed postgraduate studies at the Theological School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (1982).

He was ordained a Deacon in 1985 by Archbishop Jacob of America and in the same year he became a Presbyter. He served in Saints Constantine and Helen (Merriville, IN) Church, and, since 1987, in the Holy Diocese of Chicago as Secretary.

In 1988 he received the Archimandrite’s officium and became a Protosyncellus at the same Bishopric.

In St. Petersburg, Russia, he completed his studies in History and Russian language. He taught selected courses on Orthodoxy at the Loyola University of Chicago.

On December 2, 1996, he was unanimously elected as Metropolitan of Hong Kong and ordained on the 14th of the same month at the Patriarchal Church of St. George.

His enthronement took place at St. Luca Cathedral in Hong Kong on January 12, 1997 and became the first regular priest of the newly-established Hong Kong Metropolis, and then he was appointed at the Dardanelles Metropolis in 2007.

It is finally worth mentioning that Metropolitan Nikitas is the Director of the Berkeley USA Patriarchal Orthodox Institute “Patriarch Athenagoras” in Berkeley, USA.

Metropolitan Nikitas succeeds His Eminence Archbishop Gregorios who has been Archbishop of Thyateira and Great Britain since 16th April 1988.

Born in the present-day Turkish-occupied village of Marathovounos in the district of Famagusta, Cyprus, on 28th October 1928, Archbishop Gregorios was appointed to the Church of All Saints in Camden, London in April 1959. He was ordained presbyter by the late Archbishop of Thyateira, Athenagoras Kavvadas, in the same month.

In 1964 he was appointed Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Thyateira. On 12th December 1970 he was consecrated Bishop of Tropaeou by the blessed former Archbishop of Thyateira Athenagoras Kokkinakis at the Cathedral of St Sophia. From the first day of his ordination he undertook to organise and administer St. Mary’s Cathedral and the Church of St. Barnabas the Apostle in Wood Green, North London.