Pavlos Kouroupis

Who is Pavlos Kouroupis?

Pavlos Kouroupis was a Greek soldier born in 1929 in Kalamata.

An officer in the Hellenic Army, at the time of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, he was a Lt. Colonel and CO of the 251st Battalion of the Cypriot National Guard, the unit closest to the Turkish landing site. With his unit, he opposed the Turkish army at the Battle of Pentemili beachhead, stalling its advance for two days. He was forced to retreat before vastly superior Turkish numbers. He was presumed dead during the defence of Keryneia.