Cassoulides to represent Cyprus at Kranidiotis funeral

THE CYPRUS government will be represented at the funeral today in Athens of Greece’s Deputy Foreign Minister Yiannos Kranidiotis by Foreign Minister Yiannakis Cassoulides.

Also travelling to Athens will be House President Spyros Kyprianou and representatives of all the political parties.

Kranidiotis, 51, his only son Nicolas, 23, and four others died when the plane they were travelling in plunged thousands of feet in an air pocket prior to landing at Bucharest Airport late on Tuesday night. Seven others, mostly journalists accompanying Kranidiotis on the official trip, were injured.

The government on Wednesday declared three days of national mourning for Cypriot-born Kranidiotis as flags flew at half mast on all public buildings.

Government spokesman Michalis Papapetrou said yesterday that President Clerides, who is on his way to New York to address the UN General Assembly, could not go to Athens to attend the funeral.

“The president is on a national mission,” Papapetrou said.

“He has specific political commitments which would have to be postponed if he was to attend the funeral; therefore it was considered not right to upset this programme.”

Papapetrou said yesterday that all of Cyprus was crushed by the death of Kranidiotis and that a void had been created by his passing.

Kranidiotis had been at the forefront of efforts in Europe to resolve the Cyprus problem and to assist the island in its accession course towards the European Union.

A book of condolences has been opened at the Greek embassy in Nicosia and will remain open until after the funeral.

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.