National guard chief leads 76-man parachute jump

FIFTY-nine year-old National Guard chief Evangelos Florakis yesterday led a successful 76-man parachute jump from a dizzying height of 442 metres.

But the 36 Cypriot participants complained that they had were not being paid for the jump, while their Greek counterparts got £800 for carrying out the two jumps over Tersephanou near Larnaca.

Florakis said the exercise there was a risky one and so participants should be compensated, but added the matter was in the hands of the Finance Ministry.

The exercise was part of a six-monthly parachute exercise, where 10 men jump at a time from a Greek Air Force SE 130 plane. Also jumping with Florakis was the commander of Cyprus’ Commando Forces, Nicolas Badras.

After the jump Florakis, who rose in ranks through the Commando Forces in Greece, said he had been very impressed by the expertise displayed by the other jumpers and that practice jumps were very important in raising self-awareness, confidence and experience.

Florakis was made National Guard chief in May 2000 after having served in Cyprus during the 1980s. He also is married to a Cypriot from Paphos.

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.