Clerides, Glafkos John (1919– )

Greek Cypriot lawyer and politician, president of Cyprus from 1993. Leader of the right-of-centre Democratic Rally, he unsuccessfully contested the presidency in 1978, 1983, and 1988, and then won it by a narrow majority in 1993 at the age of 73. His personal ties with the Turkish leader Rauf Denktaş raised expectations that he might be more successful than his predecessors in resolving his country's divisions, and peace talks resumed in June 1996. He was narrowly re-elected in February 1998, and in March 1998 began talks with the European Union on the country's possible accession.