Former President of the Republic, former Speaker of Parliament and former Secretary General of AKEL Dimitris Christofias is being buried today in Nicosia with the honors of incumbent President of the Republic of Cyprus.
The funeral will take place at public expense, at 17:00 in the Holy Temple of God Sophia in Strovolos and the burial will then take place in the cemetery of Makedonitissa. The departure sequence will be performed by the Metropolitan of Kykkos Nikiforos. Funeral on behalf of the Popular Movement will be delivered by the General Secretary of the CoE. of AKEL, Andros Kyprianou.
The body of Dimitris Christofias is on display for a final farewell from the public from 9:00 am at the PEO building in Nicosia until 15:00. From 16:00 to 17:00 the family will receive condolences in the church from the political world of Cyprus, public officials, political figures from abroad and foreign diplomats who are accredited in Cyprus.
According to the decision of the Council of Ministers, which met extraordinarily last Saturday, public mourning has been declared while today has been declared a public holiday. During the mourning, the flags in all public buildings and schools are flying at half-mast.
The President of the Republic and the Council of Ministers together will attend the funeral, while the Prime Minister of Greece Alexis Tsipras will also be present.
Before the funeral, Mr. Tsipras will go to the Presidential Palace, where he will have a meeting with the President of the Republic Nikos Anastasiadis, while he will also sign the book of condolences of the Presidency of the Republic for Dimitris Christofias.
The funeral of Dimitris Christofias will be attended, in addition to the Diplomatic Corps accredited in the Republic of Cyprus, by representatives of foreign countries, representatives of parties from abroad, representatives of International Organizations, but also representatives of the Turkish Cypriot community and Turkish Cypriots.
The Head of the UN Mission in Cyprus Elizabeth Spehar and the Secretary General of the World Trade Union Federation Nikos Mavrikos will be present. The General Secretary of the KKE, Dimitris Koutsoumbas, heads an 8-member delegation of the party, including the General Secretary of the KNE, Nikos Ambatielos, the member of the Presidium and Secretary of the CoE. of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Arefev Nikolai, Member of the Political Bureau of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine Ibrahim Ahmad leads a 3-member delegation, Member of the Political Secretariat of SYRIZA Natasa Theodorakopoulou of the Portuguese Communist Party Joao Pimenta Lopez, Member of Parliament and member of the National Executive Council of the French Communist Party Pierre Dhareville, former MEP Willy Meyer representing the Spanish Communist Party and the German Left Party of the Left .
The Turkish Cypriot community will be represented by the representative of the Turkish Cypriot leader Baris Bourtziou and the former leader of the Turkish Cypriot community Mehmet Ali Talat. The Republican Turkish Party CTP, the Community Democratic Party TDP, the United Cyprus Party BKP, the New Cyprus Party YKP, the Left Movement Sol, the Community Liberation Party TKP and the Turkish Cypriot trade unions İŞ EV KTOEÖS and KTAMS.
Meanwhile, the Police announced traffic arrangements due to the funeral of Dimitris Christofias. Throughout the stay of the body in the building of PEO, the roads around the building will remain closed (Archermou - Fotinos Panas - Volonaki - Simonidou).
Then, at 3 p.m. The body will be transported from PEO to the Holy Temple of God Sophia in Strovolos, via the streets Archermou-Digeni Akrita-Spyros Kyprianou, Griva Digeni, Prodromou, Lefkonos, Byzantiou and Eleonon.
Then, during the funeral procession in the church, Eleonon Avenue and Ithaca, Perdiou and Kastella streets will be closed to traffic.
After the church, the body will be transported in a procession to the cemetery of Engomi via Eleonon, Makedonitissis, Lefkotheou, Iroon and Morfou streets.
Source: KYPE