The renaming of part of Piale Pasha Street to Tasos Mitsopoulos Avenue is the least we could do in return for the love that the late Minister of Defence Tasos Mitsopoulos showed for his town, Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades said on Sunday, during the renaming ceremony that took place in Larnaca.
Referring to the honoured former Minister, President said that Tasos Mitsopoulos Avenue would be the road that would remind everyone of Mitsopoulos’ moral excellence, honesty and humanitarian approach. Furthermore he said that that the renaming of the road is an honour not only for Mitsopoulos but also for the town that that he served as an MP and later as a Minister.
At the same time Anastasiades reiterated the government’s respect and support for the conservation of historical and traditional names. “Our respect for history, tradition and hence, for the Turkish Cypriot toponyms (place names) throughout Cyprus is granted. We wish that our compatriots behaved in the same way,” Anastasiades said.
The President said that the specific renaming did not violate the established principle of the Republic for the maintenance of all place names of the country. As he explained, Tasos Mitsopoulos Avenue begins at the point where in the past the historic road Piale Pasha ended and covers the new section of the road which differs morphologically from the rest of the traditional core of the Turkish Cypriot neighbourhood “Scala “. Piale Pasha was named after the Ottoman conqueror Piale Pasha, who took over Cyprus in 1571.
Earlier in the morning, the first annual memorial service for the late Defence Minister took place in the presence of the President and other officials.
Delivering the eulogy Minister of the Interior Socrates Hasikos said that Mitsopoulos was a special person and a distinguished politician and that his death plunged everyone in Cyprus into mourning. He also said that Mitsopoulos died very young, at the age of 48, leaving behind his wife and two children and a gap in the political life of the country. He noted that those who knew Mitsopoulos had only feelings of admiration and appreciation for him .
Mitsopoulos, died unexpectedly last year. He had been rushed to hospital after he was found unconscious in his office having suffered a massive cerebral hemorrhage due to a ruptured brain aneurysm.