Failos Kranidiotis
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Failos Kranidiotis | |
|---|---|
| President of the New Right (Greece) | |
| Vice President | Panayotis Doumas |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 16 October 1965 Piraeus, Greece |
| Profession | Politician, lawyer and columnist |
Garoufail (Failos) Kranidiotis (Greek: Γαρουφαήλ (Φαήλος) Κρανιδιώτης; born 16 October 1965) is a Greek right-wing politician,[1] lawyer and columnist, chairman of the political party New Right (Nea Dexia).
In March 2016, Kranidiotis, a close associate of former Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, was ousted from conservative New Democracy by leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis over controversial online comments he posted in response to a diplomatic faux pas by Migration Minister Ioannis Mouzalas.[2] Some of his previous comments have also been considered homophobic.[3][4][5]
Born in 1965 in Korydallos, a poor popular district of Piraeus. In 1999 he became known as the lawyer of Abdullah Öcalan, participating actively in the campaign of the Kurdish leader, which ended with his capture by Turkish agents in Nairobi, Kenya.[6]
Early political career
In the European Parliament elections of 1999 he was candidate MP for Political Spring.[7] He also served as president of the nationalist organization Network 21 (Δίκτυο 21).[7]
In the elections of 2012 he was a candidate MP for New Democracy at the Piraeus B District. Failure repeated in both 2015 National Elections, although he had doubled his votes.
In December 2015, he filed two lawsuits against Greek Education Minister Nikos Filis (SYRIZA) in connection with controversial comments regarding the 1914–23 genocide of Pontic Greeks by the Turks.[8]