Former President Glafcos Clerides, who guided Cyprus into European Union membership and dedicated most of his 50 years in politics to trying to reunify the ethnically split island, has died. He was 94.
Joseph Kasios, Clerides' personal physician for over a quarter century, said he died at a private clinic early this evening.
The fourth president of Cyprus, Clerides also played a part in negotiations leading to independence from Britain. Over a half-century, he was widely respected for deftly navigating his country's often treacherous politics.
After losing in two presidential elections in 1983 and 1988, Clerides won the powerful office in 1993 and a second five-year term in 1998. During that time he oversaw the completion of negotiations for entering the EU, though he left office before the country formally joined in 2004.
But the Cyprus problem was Clerides' passion. The island was split into an internationally recognised Greek Cypriot south and a breakaway Turkish Cypriot north in 1974 when Turkey invaded after a coup by supporters of union with Greece.
Turkish Cypriots declared independence in 1983, but only Turkey, which maintains 35,000 troops there, recognises it.
In 2003, Clerides unsuccessfully sought re-election for a limited third term to continue handling the delicate reunification negotiations. He lost to Tassos Papadopoulos, who had accused Clerides of giving too much away during reunification talks.
Clerides supported a UN reunification plan, warning that rejection would mean "burying the land of our fathers," but it was overwhelmingly rejected by Greek Cypriots, though approved by Turkish Cypriots in separate referenda in April 2004. He nonetheless remained steadfast in his support for the UN plan.
A few dozen supporters milled around in silence outside the clinic where Clerides died, while some erected an impromptu shrine with a large photograph of the ex-president. Within minutes of his death, tributes started to pour in from Cyprus and Europe.
President Nicos Anastasiades said he was "devastated" because he "was something more than a political father to me."
"Glafcos Clerides has left a political legacy that no one can ignore," Anastasiades told state broadcaster CyBC by telephone from Sri Lanka where he's attending a Commonwealth summit.
Born in Nicosia on April 24, 1919, Clerides was a soldier, a prisoner of war, a lawyer before he became a politician.
