Died former President of the Republic of Cyprus.

In one of the clinics Nicosia on 75-year life of deceased former President of Cyprus Tassos Papadopoulos. A former head of Cyprus has been diagnosed with lung cancer, Papadopoulos was hospitalized in intensive care 22 November, 2008. The morning of Dec. 12, his condition severely deteriorated and doctors were unable to save his life, said <A href=http://afp,com target=_blank> AFP </ a>.
Tassos Papadopoulos became the fifth president of Cyprus in February 2003. In the post Head of the Republic, he spent a period which expired on 28 Feb, 2008. Re-elected Papadopoulos was unable to - he was left out of the presidential race even in the first round, took third place and with the support of 31.79 per cent of the population. His rivals, former Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasulidesu and Speaker of Parliament Demetrisu Hristofiasu (later he became president of Cyprus), managed to gain 33.29 and 33.51 per cent of the votes respectively, thereby depriving Papadopoulos' chances of winning.
During the presidency Papadopoulos, Cyprus became a full member of the European Union. However, former President of Cyprus has always been a tough opponent of unification of Cyprus (the island has been divided into Greek Cyprus and the unrecognized Republic of Northern Cyprus after the last territory in 1974, occupied by Turkish troops). The current President of Cyprus Christofias, by contrast, resumed its dialogue with Northern Cyprus and is trying to achieve unification of the island ..