Rauf Denktaş | |
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1st President of Northern Cyprus | |
In office 15 November 1983 –24 April 2005 | |
Prime Minister | Nejat Konuk Derviş Eroğlu Hakkı Atun Mehmet Ali Talat |
Preceded by | Office created |
Succeeded by | Mehmet Ali Talat |
2nd Vice President of Cyprus | |
In office February 1973 –July 1974 | |
President | Makarios III |
Preceded by | Fazıl Küçük |
Succeeded by | Vacant |
Personal details | |
Born | Paphos, British Cyprus | 27 January 1924
Died | 13 January 2012 87) North Nicosia, Northern Cyprus | (aged
Nationality | Turkish Cypriot |
Political party | National Unity Party |
Spouse(s) | Aydın Denktaş |
Children | 6, including Serdar (3 predeceased him) |
Occupation | Politician, statesman, political writer |
Profession | Lawyer |
Education | English high school, Nicosia, 1941 Studied in Istanbul Studied law at Lincoln's Inn in London, 1944–1947 |
Parents | Raif Mehmet Bey (1882–1941) Emine Hanim |
[1] [2] [3] |
Rauf Raif Denktaş [4] [lower-alpha 1] [lower-alpha 2] (27 January 1924 – 13 January 2012) was a Turkish Cypriot politician, barrister and jurist who served as the founding President of Northern Cyprus. He occupied this position as the President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus between the declaration of the de facto state by Denktaş in 1983 and 2005, as the President of the Turkish Federated State of Cyprus between 1975 and 1983 and as the President of the Autonomous Turkish Cypriot Administration between 1974 and 1975. He was also elected in 1973 as the Vice-President of the Republic of Cyprus. [5]
Denktaş was born in Paphos to judge Raif Mehmet Bey and Emine Hanim, Turkish Cypriots. He graduated from The English School, Nicosia in Cyprus. Following his graduation he worked as a translator in Famagusta after that as a court clerk and then as a teacher for one year in the English School. He later went to Istanbul and London, [1] training first as a teacher and then as a barrister at Lincoln's Inn. He graduated in 1947 and returned home to practice law.
In 1948 Denktaş served as a member of the Consultative Assembly in search of self-government for Cyprus and became a member of the Turkish Affairs Committee. He was a crown prosecutor 1949–1958.
In 1957, Denktaş played the lead role in the founding of the Turkish Resistance Organization (TMT), which was formed to resist EOKA's struggle to proclaim Enosis (union with Greece) and worked for the partition of Cyprus. In 1958, he attended the U.N. General Assembly on behalf of the Turkish-Cypriots, and in December of that year he advised the Turkish Government on the rights of Turkish Cypriots during the preparation of the London and Zurich Agreements (signed 19 February 1959). In 1960, Cyprus won independence from Britain, and the Republic of Cyprus was established. Denktaş was elected as the President of the Turkish Communal Chamber. [6]
In November 1963 President Makarios gave for review to Turkey, Greece and Britain a document with a series of constitutional amendments designed to loosen the acquired rights of Turkish Cypriots in the name of "the workings of the state". Then the paramilitary action against the Turks began in December 1963, after which Turkish-Cypriots forcefully withdrew from government. Upon these events, Denktaş went to Ankara for consultations with the Turkish government. His reentry to the island was prohibited by the Greek-Cypriot leadership in years 1964–68 due to his involvement with TMT. In the 1973 vice presidential elections he replaced Fazıl Küçük. [7]
After the 15 July 1974 Greek ultra-nationalist military coup in Cyprus, fearing for the safety of the Turkish Cypriot population, Turkey unilaterally invaded by landing troops on the north coast of Cyprus. During the military operation, the dictatorship led by Nikos Sampson fell and political wrangling began. After three weeks, Turkey continued to advance military operation. The Turkish Army took control of 37% of the island by the time it completed its second advance on 14 August 1974 and reached Famagusta. Denktaş was subsequently elected speaker of the legislature in 1975, [6] and then President of the Turkish Federated State of Cyprus in 1976 and for a second term in 1981.
He played a key role in the 1983 Unilateral Declaration of Independence of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, and was elected as the President of the TRNC in 1985, 1990, 1995, and 2000. [8]
The TRNC has not been recognised by any state other than Turkey. Denktaş had been the chief negotiator of Turkish Cypriots in the United Nations sponsored peace talks since 1968.
By 2000, the desire of both Cyprus and Turkey to join the EU led to renewed efforts to reach a settlement. In 2002 there were large demonstrations in northern Cyprus by Turkish Cypriots demanding reunification of the island, which would give them EU citizenship when Cyprus joined the EU in 2004.
In February 2004 Denktaş embarked on a new round of UN sponsored talks with the Greek Cypriots, aimed at re-uniting Cyprus. Ultimately, as did the Greek Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos, he opposed the final version of the settlement proposal drafted under the authority of the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan (the Annan Plan), which was voted on by the two Cypriot communities in a referendum on 24 April 2004. The plan was accepted by 65% of the Turkish community, but was rejected by a vast majority of the Greeks.
On 14 May 2004, Denktaş announced he would not be standing for a fifth term as President of the TRNC in the next election. His tenure as President came to an end following the 17 April 2005 election of Mehmet Ali Talat, who formally assumed office on 25 April. [9]
Denktaş's favourite pastimes included photography and writing. His photographs have been exhibited in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Italy, some of the former republics of the Soviet Union, Poland, France, Austria and Turkey. He has written about fifty books in English and Turkish. Between the years 1949 and 1957 he wrote many articles for the newspaper Halkın Sesi ("Voice of the People"), published by Fazıl Küçük, the first Vice President of the Republic of Cyprus.[ citation needed ]
Denktaş has been the recipient of many awards and honorary doctorates given by various universities in Turkey, Northern Cyprus and the United States. He was married to Aydın Denktaş (1933–2019) for 63 years and had three sons and three daughters. He lost a daughter at the age of three, one son, Raif in a traffic accident and another son in a tonsillectomy. His surviving son Serdar Denktaş is also a politician, and as of 2019, leader of the Turkish Cypriot Democratic Party. [10]
Denktaş's health gradually deteriorated throughout the 2000s. [11] He had a heart condition and on 25 May 2011 suffered a stroke. [2] He died on 13 January 2012 of multiple organ failure at the Near East University Hospital in Nicosia. [2] [11] Northern Cyprus declared a weeklong mourning period, [12] while Turkey declared five days' mourning. [13] His funeral, which thousands attended, was held on 17 January. He was buried in the Cumhuriyet Park ("Park of the Republic"). [14]
Note: The translations of the titles in Turkish is not necessarily the actual English title
Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, is a de facto state that comprises the northeastern portion of the island of Cyprus. Recognised only by Turkey, Northern Cyprus is considered by all other states to be part of the Republic of Cyprus.
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The flag of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is the national flag of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and is based on the flag of Turkey, with the colors reversed and two additional horizontal red stripes at the top and bottom. The flag was drawn by the Turkish Cypriot artist Emin Çizenel. It was adopted in 1984 by Northern Cyprus, a self-declared state that is recognized only by Turkey, after its unilateral declaration of independence in 1983.
North Nicosia or Northern Nicosia is the capital and largest city of the de facto state of Northern Cyprus. It is the northern part of the divided city of Nicosia and is governed by the Nicosia Turkish Municipality. As of 2011, North Nicosia had a population of 61,378 and a metropolitan area with a population of 82,539.
The declaration of Independence of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was a unilateral declaration of independence from the Republic of Cyprus by the Turkish Cypriot parliament on 15 November 1983.
Serdar Denktaş is son of Rauf Denktaş, the former President of the de facto Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
The Turkish Resistance Organisation was a Turkish Cypriot pro-taksim paramilitary organisation formed by Rauf Denktaş and Turkish military officer Rıza Vuruşkan in 1958 as an organisation to counter the Greek Cypriot Fighter's Organization "EOKA"(later "EOKA-B"). The name of the organization was changed twice. In 1967 to "Mücahit", and became the Security Forces Command in 1976.
Fazıl Küçük was a Turkish Cypriot politician who served as the first Vice President of the Republic of Cyprus.
Politics of Northern Cyprus takes place in a framework of a semi-presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the president is head of state and the prime minister is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Assembly of the Republic. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
The 1974 coup d'état in Cyprus was a military coup d'état by the Greek Army in Cyprus, the Cypriot National Guard and the Greek military junta of 1967–1974. On 15 July 1974 the coup plotters ousted President Makarios III and replaced him with pro-Enosis nationalist Nikos Sampson as replaced president, only for 2 days. The Sampson regime was described as a puppet state, whose ultimate aim was the annexation of the island by Greece; in the short term, the coupists proclaimed the establishment of the "Hellenic Republic of Cyprus". The coup was viewed as illegal by the United Nations and violated human rights laws.
Northern Cyprus is recognised only by Turkey, a country which facilitates many of its contacts with the international community. After it was occupied by Turkey, Northern Cyprus' relations with the rest of the world were further complicated by a series of United Nations resolutions which declared its independence legally invalid. A 2004 UN Referendum on settling the Cyprus dispute was accepted by the Turkish Cypriots but rejected by the Greek Cypriots. After that, the European Union declared its intentions to assist in reducing the economic isolation of Northern Cyprus and began giving aid to the territory. However, due to pressure from Greece and the Republic of Cyprus, this aid coming from EU funds cannot be used on Greek Cypriot land and property nor on public bodies. As a result, these funds can be used only on 29 percent of people on the island of Cyprus.
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Political offices | ||
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Preceded by Fazıl Küçük | Leader of the Turkish Cypriots 18 February 1973 – 24 April 2005 | Succeeded by Mehmet Ali Talat |
New title | President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus 1983–2005 |