Tassos Papadopoulos, the former president of Cyprus dubbed “Mr No” for his sustained opposition to making peace with the Turkish Cypriot community, died on December 12 of lung cancer. He was 74.

In 2004 he broke into tears during a live television appearance while urging Greek Cypriots to vote against a United Nations-brokered reunification plan for the island, saying it was “unworkable”.