Mr. Papadopoulos was for a time the chief Greek Cypriot negotiator in settlement talks with the breakaway Turkish Cypriots after 1974, when Turkey invaded the island in response to a coup by supporters of uniting the island with Greece.
It was Mr. Papadopoulos who submitted a proposal in 1977 for a federated Cyprus tying together two distinct zones. The proposal became the basis for all subsequent settlement initiatives.
He was elected leader of the center-right Democratic Party in 2000 and reached the apex of his career three years later when he became the island's fifth president with the backing of its largest party, communist-rooted Akel.
