President meets with diaspora delegates at palace

President Nikos Christodoulides met with representatives of multiple Cypriot diaspora groups at the Presidential palace on Wednesday evening.

In attendance at the meeting were delegates from the World federation of overseas Cypriots (Pomak), the International coordinating committee “Justice for Cyprus” (Pseka), and the Youth of the World federation of overseas Cypriots (Nepomak).

The meeting came after representatives of all three groups had lain wreathes at the statue of Archbishop Makarios III outside the Presidential palace.

After the meeting, a reception was held in honour of the delegates by Christodoulides and his wife the First Lady Philippa Karsera Christodoulides.

At the reception, the President expressed his “gratitude to all of you, who never stopped fighting and defending our beloved Cyprus. And all this, selflessly and without asking for anything from the homeland”.

He said diaspora groups have been “the strongest helper for all the governments of the Republic of Cyprus over time”.

He described the “selflessness” of the Cypriot diaspora as “what our ancestors called philotimo and what over time became a Greek privilege, since this word does not exist in the vocabulary of any other language worldwide”.

“Philotimo, love towards giving to one’s fellow man, society, or country, without ever expecting anything in return. This philotimo is what you personify and advertise across the world, and obviously, it has made you stand out and succeed as global ambassadors of our country”, he said.

In addition, he awarded the Medal of outstanding honour to five diaspora Cypriots – Ismini Michael, Stelios Georgiadis, Kyriacos Tsioupras, Paschalis Kitromilides, and Charalambos Kapnoulas – at the event.

Elsewhere, United States Senator Robert Menendez is set to be awarded the “Gold medal of Apostle Varnavas” on Thursday by the Church of Cyprus.

The church said the award will be bestowed upon him “for his contribution to the struggle of Greek Cypriots for justice and liberty”.

He will also be awarded honorary citizenship of Paphos on Friday.