London Greek Radio

In essence, tonight was supposed to be Eurovision night but our favourite song contest, like other events around the globe, has been postponed.

Instead, we’ll be watching “Eurovision: Europe Shine A Light”, a non-competitive replacement “song contest” which honours the 41 countries which would have competed to win the 2020 Eurovision crown.

Hosted by Chantel Janzen, Edsilia Rombleyand and Jan Smit, who would have fronted the ‘regular’ Eurovision from the Ahoy Arena of Rotterdam in The Netherlands, it promises to be just as spectaculous!

Eleni Foureira, whose ‘Fuego’ tune came second for Cyprus in the 2018 Eurovision, returns with a virtual performance in the “Eurovision Heroes” segment of the show.

Other returning artists, alongside the current “Class of Eurovision” have a virtual sing-song [from their countries] to thank essential frontline workers battling Coronavirus daily.

In a time before “social distancing” and “staying at home”, there was often occasion for Cyprus and Greece to come up with their Eurovision trump-cards.

Cypriot broadcaster CyBC internally selected Sandro Nicholas [real name Alessandro Rütten] to fly the island’s flag.

The entry ‘Running‘ is a deep, house-style inspired electronic-pop song and is dark and dramatic. The lyrics have a deeper meaning about mental health issues and depression and is very relevant now, as this once taboo-issue is ever-more discussed openly, with its impact on males in particular.

The 23-year-old German-Greek singer-songwriter, worked for months to find the right song and he co-wrote it with Greek producer Teo Arkitekt, Australian singer-songwriter Alfie Arcuri, Sebastian Rickards, and Octavian Rasinariu.

CyBC told LGR, “Having gone through depression himself, Sandro’s performance underlines the tunnel of darkness that we must keep on running through in difficulties or catastrophes but also of the strength needed to stand tall and not fall.”

The video is dark and moody with Sandro appearing as a solitary figure.

As the song choruses on about ‘running’ progressively, it comes to a visual-climax in a hopeful and optimistic way, with shades of light on the screen.

For Greece, 17-year-old Stefania Liberakakis stood out as the nation’s candidate this year. She was born in The Netherlands to Greek parents from Greece.

‘Superg!rl‘ is an up-tempo, pop-dance track with ethnic beats that are really catchy. The song has already entered the radio-friendly playlists of London Greek Radio for several months.

The song’s lyrics are about social adolescent empowerment and young people attaining their goals, as well as trusting their super-innate-strength to achieve their ambition.

Unfortunately, Eurovision fans won’t have the chance to see the Greek ‘Superg!rl’ on stage, however, there will be news about the singer’s Eurovision adventure.

The broadcaster confirmed Stefania would be Greece’s Eurovision 2021 Song Contest act, with a new Eurovision tune up her sleeve especially composed for next year. The details of the entry are not yet known, although we think it might include the current team of creative songwriting talent.

Eurovision veteran, Dimitris Kontopoulos and Arcade comprising of Pavlos Manolis, Diveno and Gabriel Russel composed and produced ‘Superg!rl’. The lyrics are co-written with Swedish songwriter Sharon Vaughn.

The music video was filmed in Athens which included the Fokas Evangelinos dance school of performing arts.

Mr Evangelinos who has staged some of the biggest and effective performances in Eurovision for Greece, Russia and Azerbaijan, has confirmed his involvement in the Greek song next year.

To top off the night, all 41 acts will come together, from their separate locations across Europe, for a rendition of the United Kingdom’s 1997 winner ‘Love Shine a Light’ by Katrina and the Waves.

Watch Cyprus and Greece Eurovision videos here: lgr.co.uk/videos

A whole host of Cypriot artists have united to create a music video especially for the island during the coronavirus pandemic.

The video was made in response to the Cyprus Government’s lockdown measures which were vigorously enforced for several weeks.

“Ego Tha’ Me Edo”, which translated into English is “I’ll be here” is a sweet melodic number which was filmed at artists homes as the country stayed home to reduce the spread of the virus.

Stalo Georgiou, a former Music Director at Manor Hill Greek School in Barnet, who now lives in Paphos, composed the music. Theodoulos Koullapi wrote the lyrics and filmmaker Charalampos Charalampous was responsible for the editing.

The four-minute video includes Konstantina, Cypriot traditional singer Michalis Hadjimichael and former winner of the 2011 LGR Music Awards, Iphigenia Loucaides.

The other artists involved are Andri Karantwni, Vasiliki Hadjiadamou, Efthivoulos Theocharous, Christina Tselepou, Demetris Souroullas, Christos Rialas, Demetra Xatzi, Stella Stylianou, Kalypso Dimitriou, Elena Polydorou, Fani Anastasiou.

Stalo Georgiou, the organiser of the video, told LGR that she became involved because she was particularly concerned about the morale of Cypriot citizens who were staying at home.

She added that the video was important creatively as a vehicle to boost morale and put in place a positive mental-mind-set at these uncertain times.

Stalo said: [Translated] “The concept envisaged was to creatively seek a positive message of love and optimism. The other intention was to honour the essential workers battling on the frontline to defeat the coronavirus epidemic. The song’s lyrics underlined that we are here for each other in lockdown, also crucially to stand together afterwards when this is eventually over.”

Watch it here at our videos section: lgr.co.uk/videos

It’s been reported this week that 287 UK Cypriots have died in relation to Coronavirus.

The weekly Parikiaki newspaper which has continued to print it’s circulation during the pandemic have been providing regular updates.  The latest figures were published as of 29th April 2020, however it is not known whether the deceased have died directly from Coronavirus or whether they had tested positive for the virus, but died of other causes.

The newspaper has contacted hospitals, churches, funeral directors, Turkish Cypriot media and community, plus requests for their weekly death announcements, and confirmed 287 UK Cypriots have died, with 51 deaths of UK Cypriots in the past week.

According to Parikiaki’s calculations the deceased are as follows:-

UK Greek Cypriots – 170, which includes a married couple and two brothers
UK Turkish Cypriots – 90
UK Maronite Cypriot – 1

All of the above are from the London area with 8 additional UK Greek-Cypriot deaths and 1 Turkish-Cypriot in Birmingham, 3 (from the same family) in Weston-super-Mare, 1 in Southend, 1 in Luton, 1 in Cheltenham, 1 in Lowestoft, 1 in Derby, 1 in Cambridge, 1 Greek-Cypriot and 1 Maronite-Cypriot in Liverpool, 1 in Glasgow, 1 in Newport, 1 in Leeds and 3 Turkish-Cypriots outside of London (awaiting details).

With 233,829 deaths worldwide, the above total of 287 UK Cypriot deaths equates to 0.12% of deaths globally and 1.07% of deaths in the UK.

Cyprus currently has 850 cases of positive tests for Coronavirus with 15 deaths and so far, 148 have recovered from the disease, (just over 17%).

In Greece, of 2,591 cases, 140 people have died and 1,374 have recovered, (just over 53% so far).

Globally, from the 3,304,140 who have tested positive for the disease, 1,039,055 have recovered and 233,829 have died.  [Just over 31% recovery rate so far and 7% spot-on who have died worldwide.]

London Greek Radio (LGR) expresses our sincere condolences to the families and friends of all those who have sadly died during the pandemic and continuing to work with various organisations to help and support our communities at this challenging time.

John Kyriakides, Chairman of LGR said, “The LGR family are working hard to keep listeners informed, entertained and updated during this unprecedented time. I am saddened to hear of so many deaths in our communities.”

Tony Jay, Managing Director for LGR added, “LGR will continue to promote cross-partnership initiatives to help our listeners and communities. Our work to communicate the help that is available is more important than ever because we all have a role to play in fighting this virus.”

London Greek Radio – working together with partners, businesses and organisations to support our communities.

#StayHome#SaveLives#StayTuned

Information credited and attributed to Parikiaki newspaper and www.worldometers.info

Figures correct at time of publication 01:15 on Friday 1st May 2020.

Cyprus has confirmed that Sandro Nicholas will be the island’s representative at the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam taking place later this year.

The Cypriot broadcaster, CyBC, announced the news to excited Eurovision fans in an official statement towards the end of last year.

The 23-year-old German-Greek is an up-and-coming artist and a star of “The Voice Germany” from 2018. He managed to turn all four chairs with Shawn Mendes’ ‘In my blood’ where he reached the semi-finals.

Sandro Nicholas’ real name is Alessandro Rütten and he was born and bred in Germany, with an American father and a Greek mother from Zakynthos. He speaks Greek and travels to Greece frequently. He plays the drums and guitar and at the age of 15, started to write songs and formed his own rock-band.

Sandro has a soulful, pop and rocky-edged vocal and exudes a confident manner on stage.

As well as ‘The Voice’, Sandro was the American entrant at the New Wave Festival in Russia last summer. One of the judges was the Greek Eurovision hit-maker veteran, Dimitris Kontopoulos, who was said to have put in a word with the decision-makers in Cyprus for Eurovision.

Cypriot bosses have stuck to the format that has served them well in previous years by internal selection of the artist and song.

The formula has yielded fairly good results for Cyprus with Eleni Foureira’s spectacular 2nd place and Tamta scoring 13th in Tel Aviv last year.

Mr Nicholas will face the task to uphold Cyprus’ impressive qualification run, with five qualified entries in a row from 2015 to 2019.

Cyprus received 120 songs, all vying to compete as the island’s act for 2020 and have shortlisted the options to three songs. The exact details about the song will be released at a later date.

CyBC chose Mr Nicholas out of several artists, trusting the young and talented potential to resonate with the Eurovision voter.

Sandro is playing a constructive role in the creative song-writing to the entry, in order to find the killer-tune for this contest. Mr Nicholas has told media, he wants “an emotional song”, one that is a genuine, honest song.

In his interview to Cypriot media, Sandro said, “[I am] absolutely captivated. This country is probably one of the most beautiful countries I have ever been to. I’ve been to Zakynthos, Greece. I am Greek, but this place is magical and I’m so honoured and so pleased to be able to represent such an amazing country.”

He added, “It’s an honour for me, [to represent] for the Cypriot flag, and I want to do my very best. It’s fantastic, it’s a dream for me.”

The Eurovision Song Contest Semi-Finals are on 12th and 14th May, with the Grand Final on Saturday 16th May 2020.

London Greek Radio wishes Sandro and Cyprus the best of luck in Eurovision.

Cypriot broadcaster CyBC has confirmed that Cyprus will participate in the Eurovision Song Contest in the Netherlands Ahoy Arena Rotterdam next year.

Eurovision fans have eagerly awaited for developments as to what Cyprus may have up its sleeve in 2020.

The Cypriot bosses are most likely to be in favour of sticking to the format as it is now: internally selecting both the song and the artist, which repeats their more-recent successful formula. The Cypriots have a solid qualification record which is no doubt attributed to the formula of the last few years.

Cyprus have received 120 song entries from Greek and non-Greek song-writers, and Eurovision hit-makers of past contests. The powers that be have already short-listed a few, strong entries as the Cypriots rapidly proceed with their ambitious, concrete-solid approach and ideas to Eurovision. The selection will be responsible to pair the right song, with the relevant artist, to compliment the entry. The end of a process that would ultimately choose a performance-artist that has the complete package, for the contest.

The most likely scenario is to have a big named artist, one that is a Cypriot or Greek in the Greek-speaking music industry, flying the Cypriot flag for the 2020 Eurovision, and there will no doubt be an air of anticipation amongst fans.

Cyprus have five Top 10 consecutive results in the semi-finals, which is pretty impressive. These songs have often been contesting tightly in Eurovision Semi-Finals from 2015 to date.

The outstanding result of 2018’s Eleni Foureira’s ‘Fuego’ which finished second placed; agonisingly close to achieving the island’s first ever victory.

Tamta with the song ‘Replay’ scored a respectable 13th place in Tel Aviv, holding up the favourable results on the left-side of the scoreboard.

Cyprus made its Eurovision debut in 1981 with the band ‘Island’ finishing 6th. In 1982, the legendary and iconic artist Anna Vissi scored 5th with ‘Moni I Agapi’. A number of Cypriot singers have comprised that illustrious list including Alexia, Michalis Hatzigiannis, Constantinos Christoforou and Evridiki, Ivi Adamou and Despina Olympiou. Locally British-Cypriot Lisa Andreas, who was 16-years-old performed the Mike Connaris ballad ‘Stronger Every Minute’ in the 2004 contest. All in all thirty-five hopefuls have pinned their colours to the mast as Cypriot acts in the biggest music competition in the world.

The Cypriot delegation will be certain to want to maintain the good run of form, following the recent successes by John Karayiannis, Minus One, Hovig, Eleni Foureira and Tamta.

Eurovision fans will be patiently waiting to find out the island’s thirty-sixth representative.

The Eurovision Song Contest Semi-Finals span from May 12th and May 14th and the Grand Final airs on Saturday 16th May 2019.

For all of your Eurovision news on Cyprus, make sure you regularly check back to lgr.co.uk and tune in to London Greek Radio to hear the latest music news.

Stavros Flatley has come second in Britain’s Got Talent’s Champions Final.

The British-born, Greek-Cypriot, father-son dance duo was voted second on Saturday night’s “Britain’s Got Talent: The Champions Final” who were looking for the ‘ultimate champion’.

The likeable pair, Demi Demetriou and son Michalakis (nickname ‘Lagi’) excitingly engaged the studio and got the judges on their feet.  Their routine was backed by the world-famous Mikis Theodorakis, “Zorba the Greek” music.

The routine over, senior Demetriou said to the judges and audience, “You’re all Greek now!”

The two-minute routine was fired-up with Cypriot dancers to compliment the act, which included Anthony Komodikis and Kiri Pitt.

Family and friends, including wife and mum, Karen Demetriou waved Cyprus flags.  Listeners told LGR that they felt uniquely proud of seeing the Cypriot-patriotic colours at such a huge television event.

Demi Demetriou, 51, bounced onto the stage in character of the usual Riverdance music, only for Lagi, 23, to ‘cut it off’ and announce: “Let’s do this Greek style.”

He then told his dad: “Teach them to dance!”

Demi happily obliged, demanding that everybody in the studio gets up on their feet as Zorba the Greek started playing.

Stavros Flatley were Britain’s Got Talent finalists in the third series of the show, ten years ago in 2009.

Speaking after their energetic performance, judge David Walliams told them, “This is interpretive dance, it’s an interpretation of what dance is, and it was great you involved all of us actually.”

Simon Cowell agreed, with the 60-year-old telling the pair: “You just make us feel-good. In this country we just want to feel good and that is what you have just done.” Alesha Dixon echoed the sentiment, saying, “You made us smile, you made us feel good. What more can I say, I love you”.

Amanda Holden summarised the pair’s legacy with, “You are the heart of Britain’s Got Talent! You make my heart sing!”

In the end, the winners were dance duo Twist and Pulse.  Ukrainian sand-artist Kseniya Simonova came third.

From LGR’s point of view, we thank Demi and Laki for the fun. The duo have often said it’s just a “fun jokey act” but one that we think, has always managed to extract that joyful, feel-good factor.

Forty-five years ago to this day the Turkish military launched its second offensive against the Republic of Cyprus, in full violation of international law, including the UN Charter, despite the ceasefire that had been agreed.

The Turkish army invaded Cyprus on July 20, 1974, and launched the second phase of the invasion on August 14 of the same year, occupying the best part of Mesaoria, Famagusta, Karpasia and Morphou.

On Sunday 11th August the British-Cypriot community held a commemorative event in conjunction with the Famagusta Association of Great Britain, at St John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church, Wightman Road. Its president Dr. Vasilis Mavrou and president of the National Federation of Cypriots in the UK Christos Karaolis were in attendance at the event.

The Cyprus High Commissioner Euripides Evriviades who is retiring from his post this month, also present, to address the Church faithful and many visitors on this occasion. He gave a passionate speech about his six years serving the London office. The Cypriot diplomat explained how he tirelessly worked to campaign and enlighten others, on the Cyprus cause.

He underlined the values believed are central to the dispute, with a fairer future, that’s deserved for his Cypriot compatriots.

“All Cypriots Greek-Cypriots, Turkish-Cypriots, Maronites, Latin, Armenian deserve much better… What we want is nothing more and nothing less than other what is given to peace-loving people democracy, human rights and the rule of law, we are not children of a lesser God, we all burn under the same sun, we want democracy, human rights and the rule of law for everyone.” Mr Evriviades said.

To his fellow-Cypriots he urged always carrying the Cyprus flag high, Euripides said, “if we don’t hold our [Cypriot] flag high, then nobody else will respect it.”

He concluded his speech, thanking the Cypriot community of the UK for their continuous support, “[translated in Greek]… I believe you have made me a better human being, I have learnt so much from you [the British-Cypriots].” He also thanked the Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades for his appointment to the UK post.

The Turkish side continues to disregard calls by the international community relating to Cyprus and continues to hold the city of Famagusta hostage of its illegal military occupation. Dubbed a “ghost town”, Famagusta’s fenced off section – called Varosi – remains to this day deserted, abandoned to the elements.

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 latest effort to reach a Cyprus settlement will get underway next month: with the Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish-Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci, to meet with the U.N. secretary-general to map out the next steps toward a hoped-for resumption of formal reunification talks.

United Nations spokesman Aleem Siddique said Anastasiades and Akinci also decided to carry on discussions with U.N. envoy Jane Holl Lute to prepare the framework for “structured and results-oriented” negotiations leading to a peace deal “with a sense of urgency.”

Siddique said the two politicians discussed “in-depth the basic principles” of a potential peace accord.

Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The last round of negotiations, in the summer of 2017, at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.

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.

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.