Cyprus's 'Mr No' refused to make peace with Turks
By Kerin Hope
Published: December 15 2008 02:00 | Last updated: December 15 2008 02:00
Tassos Papadopoulos, the former president of Cyprus dubbed "Mr No" for his sustained opposition to making peace with the Turkish Cypriot community, died on December 12 of lung cancer. He was 74.
In 2004 he broke into tears during a live television appearance while urging Greek Cypriots to vote against a United Nations-brokered reunification plan for the island, saying it was "unworkable".
Papadopoulos's emotional appeal contributed to the Greek Cypriots' rejection of the UN plan at referendum by a two-thirds majority. As a result, Cyprus joined the European Union in May 2004 without the Turkish Cypriots, although they had backed the plan in a separate vote.
The European Commission felt it had been tricked into allowing the accession of a divided Cyprus, as Papadopoulos had assured Brussels the referendum would have "a positive outcome".
Papadopoulos, the son of a teacher, was born in Nicosia in 1934. As a teenager he joined the EOKA guerrilla movement fighting for independence from British colonial rule. His nationalist views did not prevent him from studying law in London, for Cypriots a first step to a fast-track political career.
By the age of 23 he led EOKA's political wing. He boasted in later life that he was the only senior leader of the group to have escaped capture by the British.
After Cyprus won independence in 1960, Papadopoulos became the youngest member in the cabinet of Archbishop Makarios, the new president. As labour minister - one of six cabinet posts he held successively - he set up the island's social welfare system.
Papadopoulos combined nationalist politics with running the island's most successful law practice, specialising in handling companies established under Cyprus's lightly regulated offshore jurisdiction.
In the 1990s his firm set up front companies to handle the Yugoslav government's illegal transfer in cash of several billion dollars to Greek Cypriot banks, in order to avoid UN sanctions on trade with Belgrade.
Papadopoulos swept to victory in the 2003 presidential election after his Democratic party joined forces with Akel, the Cyprus communist party. But after EU accession his hardline policies appeared to lose ground with voters. Seeking re-election in February this year, he was knocked out in the first round. He retired from politics after Demetris Christofias, the Akel chairman and his former ally, won the presidency.
He is survived by his wife Foteini, a member of the wealthy Leventis family; his son Nikos, a politician; and daughter Anastasia, a lawyer.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
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