Outgoing National Guard chief meets with president

Lieutenant General Demokritos Zervakis, the outgoing chief of the National Guard, met with President Nikos Christodoulides on Friday and was thanked for his service.

The meeting was also attended by Defence Minister Michalis Giorgallas.

Christodoulides thanked Zervakis for his “very constructive cooperation in both difficult and easy times”.

“What I will always hold onto from the three and a half years of your presence beyond your abilities in service and all that you have done is your love for Cyprus, which I felt every time we met, either in an official capacity or as friends”, he said.

He added, “it was a great honour for us that you served in such an important position”.

“I would like to thank you warmly on behalf of the Cypriot people and from myself personally”, he said.

Zervakis, who will now retire after 44 years of military service, said “I gave my best for the country and the nation”.

He said he only made friends in Cyprus and that those friends will “connect me to Cyprus, just as the real love for this enslaved homeland will connect me”.

He also expressed “confidence” with the efforts made by Christodoulides regarding the Cyprus problem and said, “at some point we will live in a liberated, reunited homeland and go together to Kyrenia, which is our vision”.