Clerides leaves for Greek island cruise

PRESIDENT Clerides arrived in the tiny island of Kastelorizo, east of Rhodes, yesterday morning as part of a week-long cruise to the Greek islands.

The President had flown to Paphos on a police helicopter on Sunday evening to board his boat, the Kaiti II.

He is expected to return to Cyprus on Sunday, August 8.

Before his departure, Clerides commented on the recent resignation of UN resident representative Dame Ann Hercus, saying he did not think it would affect the expected autumn Cyprus peace push.

“Somebody else will be appointed to replace her”, he said.

Dame Ann last week handed in her resignation for “family reasons”, but agreed to stay on at her post until the end of September.

With House President Spyros Kyprianou also out of the country, Disy leader Nicos Anastassiades takes over as acting President of the Republic, by virtue of his position as deputy House President.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.