Cyprus’ former President Demetris Christofias passes away, aged 72

Cyprus’ former President Demetris Christofias has died at the age of 72, after a long battle with illness.

According to reports, doctors said his health condition was extremely critical and irreversible, as he was battling the severe respiratory illness for over a month.

Born in Dikomo, Kyrenia, in 1946, Christofias was the Republic’s sixth president and was a communist who served the country between 2008 and 2013, as well as serving as the President of the House of Representatives between 2001 to 2008.

His term as President was very difficult as it was marked by the financial crisis and a freak explosion that knocked out the country’s main power supply.

The state funeral for Christofias will be held on Tuesday, June 25 at 5 pm, at the church of Agia Sophia in Nicosia and the former president will be buried at the cemetery in Makedonitissa.

According to the Cyprus Mail, the general-secretary Andros Kyprianou will deliver the eulogy.

Kyprianou said in a statement that the former president had always stood out for “his ethos, his political behaviour, and for being an upstanding, honest, and consistent person.”

“It was because they felt he was one of their own and that is due to the fact that Demetris grew up under difficult circumstances, in poverty, and he knew human difficulties,” Kyprianou said.

Government spokesman Prodromos Prodromou said that the state declared four days of mourning and that Tuesday would be a public holiday for government employees. In the meantime, all state public events would also be postponed.