From Pentadaktylos to the forests of Wales

Opinion ecologists From Pentadaktylos to the forests of Wales Charalambos Theopemptou receives the 2026 Democracy Award from "Politeia" honorary president Nikos Peristianis. Beside him, Alexandra Attalidou. Relevant News From Pentadaktylos to the forests of Wales 18 September 2026 No, DISY’s leadership didn’t fight fair 18 September 2026 India finds Nestle baby food sample substandard, takes legal action 18 September 2026 Marios Demetriou 18 September 2026 FacebookXWhatsAppEmailPrintViber Charalambos Theopemptou receives the 2026 Democracy Award from “Politeia” honorary president Nikos Peristianis. Beside him, Alexandra Attalidou. Former Movement of Ecologists – Citizens’ Cooperation leader Charalambos Theopemptou opened up about the adventures of his youth and student years, the years that planted the roots of his environmental conscience and everything he went on to do as an activist, while accepting the 2026 Democracy Award. The Centre for Socio-Political Thought “Politeia” presented him with the award on September 15, at an event held at the Press House in Nicosia. But it was former MP Alexandra Attalidou who spoke first, opening her speech with this: “I’m going to let you in on something a lot of you probably don’t know. Charalambos is a whizz with an iron, so he’s never going to go hungry! And I’m not just being funny. When he went to London to study, he worked in a clothing factory to get through his studies. He studied while working, with stubbornness, independence and dignity. And maybe that’s exactly why he never turned into one of those distant, untouchable politicians. He stayed the kind of man who can talk to you about an EU directive one minute, then be knee-deep in a rubbish dump, a felled tree or a beach under threat the next.” Theopemptou himself backed this up a few minutes later, bringing up his student days ironing in London. But before that, he described his first memories of Pentadaktylos, in the years before the Turkish invasion, and then his studies in England: two experiences that, on the surface, had nothing to do with each other, but that, as it turned out, had everything to do with shaping the way he thinks politically. He spoke at length about the stretch from Agios Ilarionas at the top of the mountain down to Lapithos, untouched, he said, by any human interference, a wonderful stronghold of wildlife back then, home to nothing but foxes, snakes, wild donkeys and eagles wheeling above the great cliffs. Then he added: “After the war in 1974, I went to London because I wanted a good time and to see as many rock bands as I possibly could. I was ironing dresses in a factory, and not long after, I ended up at a college in what was, back then, a pretty rough part of town, Hackney. I kept working whenever I could, delivering dresses all over England, and so, after the beauty of Pentadaktylos, I fell in love all over again, this time with the forests and lakes of England and Wales. At college, I had a lecturer who had a huge impact on my life, especially when it came to activism, because she was the first activist I’d ever actually met. She was in the Women’s Liberation Movement, organising marches in London for women’s rights. Put all those experiences together, and that’s what made me fall in love with nature and fight for it as hard as I possibly could.” Subscribe to our Newsletter Latest News No, DISY’s leadership didn’t fight fair India finds Nestle baby food sample substandard, takes legal action “I thought he’d had a stroke”: wife describes husband’s West Nile virus ordeal Three students killed in Philippine school shooting, including gunman, officials say Fraud trial against 77-year-old delayed as lawyers demand more evidence Police stop car in Engomi, find hundreds of boxes of untaxed cigarettes, fine man €20,000 As Iran war grinds on, Trump to face skeptical world leaders at UN Follow en.philenews on Google News and be the first to know all the news about Cyprus and the world.