Cypriot voted mayor of Cambridge

The town of Cambridge has elected an immigrant, Cypriot George Pippas from Paliometocho, as mayor for the first in the 811 years the position has existed, the Cyprus News Agency reported on Tuesday.

Having served as municipal councillor for years with the Liberal Democrats, Pippas was voted mayor by the town’s municipal council.

After a moment of silence in condemnation of the Manchester terrorist bombing attack, the inauguration ceremony for the new mayor was held last week.

Addressing the event, Cypriot municipal councillor Petros Sarris, a Byzantine history professor, recalled the circumstances that brought Pippas to the United Kingdom, censuring the 1974 Turkish invasion and occupation of Cyprus.

In his own speech, the new mayor cited his 90-year-old mother, who raised her nine children with respect and dignity through much hardship.

Archbishop of Thyateira and Great Britain Gregorios, as well as Consul General at Cyprus’ High Commission Ioannis Koukoularides, stressed the significance of Pippas’ election to the expatriate community, orthodox faith, and Cyprus itself.

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.