Giorgos Lillikas

Giorgos Lillikas
Γιώργος Λιλλήκας
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 13 June 2006 – 16 July 2007
President	Tassos Papadopoulos
Preceded by	Georgios Iacovou
Succeeded by	Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis
Personal details
Born	(1960-06-01)1 June 1960 Panayia,Cyprus
Political party	Citizens' Alliance
Profession	Politician
Website	www.yiorgoslillikas.com

Giorgos Lillikas(Greek:Γιώργος Λιλλήκας;born 1 June 1960) is aCypriotpolitician.Following the election ofTassos Papadopoulosas president in 2003, Lillikas became minister of commerce and industry. He was subsequently theforeign ministerfrom 2006 to 2007.He was an independent candidate at the2013 Cypriot presidential election.

Studies

He studiedpolitical scienceat theInstitute of Political ScienceinLyon,France,majoring in information and communications. He also holds a diploma in special studies on theArab worldfrom the Middle East Research Centre and the Institute of Political Science in Lyon. He continued his studies at the Institute of Political Science inGrenobleand was awarded a master's degree in political science.

During his studies in France he was actively involved in the student movement. Between 1985 and 1987 he was member of the Historic Politology Research Team of theNational Scientific Research Centre of France.From 1988 until 1990 he served as special advisor to thepresident of the Republic of CyprusGeorge Vasiliou.He then served for three years as the general secretary of the secretariat for the New Generation. During those years, he has been very active in associations and organizations involved in the anti-drugs movement and in the social integration of children with special needs.

Also, he represented Cyprus in many international conferences and gave many lectures in Cyprus and abroad on theCyprus problemand the problems of youth. He published many articles and studies, both in the Cypriot and the international press. From 1993 to 1996 he wasManaging Directorof apublic relations,strategic marketing,andadvertising company.

Political career

In 1996, he was elected Member of theHouse of Representativesas a candidate of the left-wing partyAKELin theNicosia electoral districtand was re-elected in theparliamentary electionsof 2001. He served on the Parliamentary Committees on Finance, Foreign and European Affairs, Education, and Trade and chaired the Parliamentary Committee on the Environment. He was head of the Cyprus Parliamentarian Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of theOrganization for Security and Co-operation in Europe(OSCE), and was elected vice president of its Committee of Political Affairs and Security for the period 2001–2002.

Lillikas served as minister of commerce, industry, and tourism from March 2003 until his appointment as minister of foreign affairs on June 13, 2006. He has also served as acting government spokesman between January and June 2006.

Personal life

He was married to Barbara Petropoulou until their divorce in 2018. They have one son together, Orpheas.