Costas Papacostas ( el, Κώστας Παπακώστας; 12 November 1939 – 21 September 2015) was the

Cypriot Cypriot (in older sources often "Cypriote") refers to someone or something of, from, or related to the country of Cyprus. * Cypriot people, or of Cypriot descent; this includes: **Armenian Cypriots **Greek Cypriots **Maronite Cypriots **Turkish C ...

Minister of Defence from 2008 to 2011. Following the

Evangelos Florakis Naval Base explosion On 11 July 2011, at Evangelos Florakis Naval Base, situated at Mari, Larnaca in Cyprus, a large amount of ammunition and military explosives self-detonated, killing 13 people, including the Commander of the Cyprus Navy, Andreas Ioannides, the ba ...

he resigned as Minister of Defence and was succeeded by Demetris Eliades, the Minister of Agriculture. In July 2013 he was found guilty of manslaughter, with the court saying he “closed his eyes to the danger” regarding the storage of explosives, for which he received a sentence of 5 years imprisonment. Papacostas was born in Ayia Trias in Cyprus. From 1955 to 1959 he took part in the

EOKA The Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston (EOKA; ; el, Εθνική Οργάνωσις Κυπρίων Αγωνιστών, lit=National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters) was a Greek Cypriot Greek Cypriots or Cypriot Greeks ( el, Ελληνο� ...

armed resistance against the British. In 1966 he joined the

Cypriot National Guard , name2 = National Guard General Staff , image = Emblem of the Cypriot National Guard.svg , image_size = 100px , caption = Emblem of the National Guard of Cyprus , image2 = Flag of the ...

and was twice seconded to the Cypriot police. Papacostas retired from the Army in 1984 having risen to the rank of colonel. He was elected to the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

representing

Famagusta District Famagusta District ( gr, Επαρχία Αμμοχώστου, Eparchia Ammochostu; tr, Mağusa kazası) is one of the six districts of Cyprus. Its main town is the island's most important port, Famagusta. History Most of the district has b ...

for

Progressive Party of Working People The Progressive Party of Working People ( el, Ανορθωτικό Κόμμα Εργαζόμενου Λαού, ; abbr. , AKEL; tr, Emekçi Halkın İlerici Partisi) is a Marxist–LeninistHelena Smith, Cyprus gets ready for a communist 'takeover ...

(AKEL) on 26 May 1996 and re-elected in 2001 and 2006.

Death

Papacostas died on September 21, 2015 at the age of 75.

References

External links

Cypriot Ministry of Defence - Biographical Note Costas Papacostas
1939 births 2015 deaths Progressive Party of Working People politicians Members of the House of Representatives (Cyprus) Cyprus Ministers of Defence Cypriot people of the EOKA People from Famagusta District {{Cyprus-politician-stub