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[fanourıo]

Sacked because of YES
By Fanos Droushiotis
Tassos Papadopoullos sacked his London's Press Officer because the latter attended a book presentation.
The author of the book was named an "Annan Plan YES friend". Tassos Papadopoullos is now accused for vindictive behavior.

Quote from Cyprus Mail:The career diplomat is accusing President Tassos Papadopoullos personally of terminating his services for no reason other than sheer vindictiveness.
Namely, Sotiris Giorgallis, formerly press officer at the Greek Cypriot High Commission in London, claims he has been sacked for having attended a pro-Annan book presentation at the London School of Economics.
“This is not about me,” the former diplomat told the papers in the South on Sunday. “It has broader ramifications. It is about tolerance of the other opinion, of dialogue,” he said
The author of the book, The referendum of 24 April 2004 and the solution to the Cyprus problem, is Takis Hadjidemetriou, a political figure known for his support of the UN blueprint, former vice president of Socialist Party EDEK.
The event took place on May 12, 2006, when Hadjidemetriou read excerpts from his book and elaborated on some of his views, after which he took questions from the audience.
On June 30, Giorgallis got a phone call from his boss, High Commissioner Petros Eftychiou, asking him whether he had attended the presentation and what went on.
During the conversation, it emerged that Eftychiou had received a stern letter from Tassos Papadopoullos, inquiring about the event. The Greek Cypriot leader believed that during the presentation, Hadjidemetriou had “made insulting remarks against me.” He wanted to know whether the press officer was there and, if so, why a memo had not been prepared.
“If this is the case, I would like to know why the memo was withheld from me,” Tassos's letter read.
Giorgallis duly prepared the memo, which was submitted first to Greek Cypriot Foreign Minister George Lillikas, and then to the office of the Greek Cypriot leader.
On July 20, Giorgallis contacted Lillikas, a friend of many years, to seek clarification. Lillikas confided that his attendance of the book presentation was “only one of the reasons” for his dismissal. He said certain people close to Tassos Papadopoullos had said Giorgallis was not doing his job properly and was “uncooperative.”
On September 8, Giorgallis received a communiqué from the Greek Cypriot Foreign Ministry informing him that his contract, due to expire at the end of January 2007, and would not be renewed.
The news came as a shock to Giorgallis, who had served as press officer for more than 20 years, on the understanding that he would retire at that post at the age of 65.
Giorgallis immediately called the Greek Cypriot High Commissioner, who told him he “regretted” this state of affairs, but he urged Giorgallis not to pursue the matter by getting others to talk to Tassos Papadopoullos because, as he put it, “he will go berserk.”
On September 9, Giorgallis called Sotos Zakheos, then permanent secretary of the Greek Cypriot Foreign Ministry. Zakheos said that he had flatly refused to sign the communiqué informing Giorgallis of his termination, as this procedure was “irregular and illegal.”
Giorgallis has never been formally notified of the reasons for his sacking, as he should have been.
“I did not want to have blood on my hands,” Zakheos told Giorgallis.
Because of Zakheos’ refusal to participate, the communiqué was given to another Greek Cypriot Foreign Ministry officer to sign.
Giorgallis next contacted George Iacovou, who had just been appointed Greek Cypriot High Commissioner to London, replacing Eftychiou.
After hearing the events of the last months, Iacovou seemed to be sympathetic to Giorgallis’ cause.
“In the past, we have caught thieves and so many other parasites [in the diplomatic corps], and we never fired them. How can they possibly fire you, when everyone knows what a good job you’re doing?”
According to Giorgallis, when he explained his plight to Greek Cypriot House Speaker Demetris Christofias, the latter shrugged and said: “He [Tassos Papadopoullos] is unbelievably stubborn.”
“This story brings to my mind fascist regimes and behaviors,” Christofias added.
Late last year, Lillikas met privately with Tassos Papadopoullos where, among other things, they discussed Giorgallis’ case.
Unquote
The question remains: Is this the Man that will lead Cyprus to any solution?

[Get Real!]

A simple matter really...

Diplomats are employed to serve/represent the country and as such serve the government. When they fail in their line of duty it's very reasonable that they be fired.

If you don't agree with a government's policies then don't seek/accept employment from it to avoid disappointment.

[THE HIGHLANDER]

Yes a simple,open and shut case "Of never bite the hand that feeds you"

[Sotos]

How can the press officer go against the government he represents? If he disagreed with the government on the most important issue then he should have resigned!

[Damsi]

Giorgallis should have known how Hadjidemetriou felt about Tassos and should have cleared it with his bosses, namely Iacovou before attending then he would not find himself in this pickle.
It would have been normal for the embassy to send someone to an event like that anyway to see what was being said and to report back, so essentially it should have been part of his duties, and Tassos should rightly have been informed of the proceedings.
Anyway everyone knows he keeps a tight reign on his people. That's a polite way of saying he's a bit of a control freak
As far as I can see Giorgallis did nothing more than to be present there. However we don't know from the story what Hadjidemetriou may have said about Tassos.
It was also unclear to me whether Giorgallis was there as a private individulal or whether he was representing the embassy. If it was the first then I would consider Tassos reaction worrying and autocratic. If he was there as an embassy representative, then Tassos` reaction was justified.
After reading the story I couldn't help but feel quite a few people may have been carpeted over the things that were said, from Iacovou down to Zackeos.