Ioannis Kasoulidis

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Ioannis Kasoulides (right) with British European Minister David Lidington (2015)

Ioannis Kasoulidis ( Greek Ιωάννης Κασουλίδης , also transcribed Kasoulides , born August 10, 1948 in Nicosia ) is a Cypriot politician. As a leading member of the Christian Democrats Synagermos (DISY), he was Foreign Minister of the Republic of Cyprus from 1997 to 2003 and held this office again from 2013 to 2018. From June 2004 Kasoulidis was a member of the European Parliament . In February 2008 he ran unsuccessfully as his party's candidate in the presidential elections in Cyprus.

Life

Ioannis Kasoulidis studied medicine in Lyon , where he received his doctorate in 1974. In the following years he specialized in geriatrics . From 1975 to 1981 he worked as a doctor and intern in London before returning to his hometown of Nicosia to become a medical specialist.

In the mid-1980s, Kaoulidis' career began in the Dimokratikos Synagermos party . From 1990 to 1993 he was chairman of the DISY youth movement, and since 1993 he has been a member of the party's Politburo.

In May 1991 Ioannis Kasoulidis was elected to the Cypriot House of Representatives as a member of the Nicosia constituency. Two years later he resigned to take over the office of government spokesman. In April 1997 Kasoulidis became the new Foreign Minister of Glafkos Klerides ' government . He held this office until February 28, 2003, when Tassos Papadopoulos became the new president of the conservative DIKO. Kasoulidi's term of office marked the conclusion of negotiations on Cyprus's accession to the European Union and the start of bilateral talks between the Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus on the reunification of Cyprus according to the Annan Plan .

After Cyprus joined the EU, Kasoulidis was elected to the European Parliament in June 2004 , where he was a member of the Group of the European People's Party . Kasoulidis was Vice-Chair of the Delegation for Relations with the Palestinian Legislative Council, a member of the European Parliament Delegation to the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly and a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

In June 2007, Kasoulidis announced his candidacy in the February 2008 presidential election. He was supported by DISY as well as some smaller parties. In the weeks leading up to the elections, polls foresaw a neck-and-neck race between incumbent President Papadopoulos, Kasoulidis and left-wing candidate Dimitris Christofias . In the first round of the elections on February 17, Kasoulidis received the most votes with a share of 33.51%, closely followed by Dimitris Christofias with 33.29% of the vote. Tassos Papadopoulos came third with a share of the vote of 31.79% and was therefore voted out. He lost the runoff election on February 24, 2008 against Christofias with 47% of the vote.

After his party friend Nikos Anastasiadis won the 2013 presidential election, he was reappointed Foreign Minister to succeed Erato Kozakou-Markoullis and took office on March 1, 2013.

Kasoulidis has received numerous awards, including the Order of the Phoenix of the Hellenic Republic , the Xirka Order of the Republic of Malta and the Order of the Cedar of Lebanon . In 2000 he received the Bethlehem City Award from the Palestinian Authority .

Web links

Commons : Ioannis Kasoulidis  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Cyprus MEP to run for president . The Earth Times, June 14, 2007; accessed on February 18, 2008.
  2. ^ Official election result of the Government of Cyprus ( Memento of November 2, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on February 18, 2008.
  3. ^ Presidential Election 2008 - Results ( English ) Republic of Cyprus - Ministry of the Interior. Archived from the original on November 2, 2007. Retrieved February 17, 2008.
personal data
SURNAME Kasoulidis, Ioannis
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kasoulides, Ioannis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Cypriot politician (DISY), MEP
DATE OF BIRTH August 10, 1948
PLACE OF BIRTH Nicosia