He was the leader of the Turks on the island of Cyprus: Who is Rauf Denktaş?

Rauf Raif Denktaş was born on January 27, 1924, in Paphos, Cyprus. Rauf Denktas lost his mother when he was 1.5 years old. His father is Judge Raif Bey. Raised by his maternal grandparents, Denktaş was sent to Istanbul for education in 1930. He started boarding school in an institution providing education from primary school to high school. He returned to Cyprus after secondary school and finished high school in Cyprus.

Rauf Raif Denktaş (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.

After the Second World War, he went to England to study law. After graduating, he started working as a lawyer. He started working as a prosecutor in the summer of 1949. In the same year, he married Aydın Hanım. He was an orator with Dr. Fazıl Küçük at the first meeting organized by the Turkish Cypriots on 27 November 1948. He assumed the role of mediator between two important figures of the Turkish community, Faiz Kaymak, and Dr. Fazıl Küçük, and followed the interests of the society. With the proposal of Faiz Kaymak and the approval of Dr. Fazıl Küçük, he was elected as the chairman of the Cyprus Turkish Institutions Federation Congress.

He resigned from his position as a prosecutor after persuading the British administration with difficulty and began to deal with the problems of the Community. Denktaş, who led the resistance of the Turkish Cypriots in the fight against Enonis, which took on a terrorist identity, and against EOKA, resigned from his position in the government in 1958. He founded the Turkish Resistance Organization on 1.8.1958 with his friends.

He contributed to the 1959 Zurich and London Treaties, the 1960 treaties, and the preparation of the Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus.

When Greek terrorists attacked Turkish villages in 1958, Turks protested these events. Before the Zurich-London agreements, Dr. Fazıl Küçük and Rauf Denktaş went to Ankara to meet with Foreign Minister Fatin Rüştü Zorlu. In this meeting, Denktaş expressed his offer to send Turkish soldiers to the island. On August 16, 1960, the Turkish Regiment of 650 people landed in the Port of Famagusta. After the events of 1963, Denktaş went to Ankara to hold contacts. Having completed his contacts, Denktaş went to Cyprus on a boat and started to organize the Turkish resistance.

He was declared persona non grata by Makarios after the 1964 London Conference. It is forbidden to enter the Yeşilada. He secretly went to Erenköy and joined the war. He was arrested while sneaking onto the island in 1967. He was returned to Turkey as a result of intense efforts. He returned to Cyprus in 1968 when the ban on entry to the island was lifted. In the 1970 elections, he was elected to the Presidency of the Turkish Community Council. He was elected as the Vice President of Cyprus and the President of the Turkish Cypriot Administration until 28.2.1973.

Denktaş, who also served as the head of state and parliament after the declaration of the Turkish Federated State of Cyprus on February 13, 1975, was elected as the head of state in the first general elections held in 1976 in accordance with the constitution.

He became president for the second time in 1981. He was elected president for the second time in the early elections held on 22.4.1990. He was also elected president in the 1995 elections. Denktaş, who was not a candidate in the Presidential elections held on April 17, 2005, handed over the task to Mehmet Ali Talat on April 24.

Rauf Denktaş, the founding president of the TRNC, passed away at the age of 88.

Denktaş was hospitalized on the night of 8 January 2012 due to dehydration due to diarrhea. Denktaş, who showed insufficiency in his internal organs, was connected to a ventilator as of this morning and to dialysis in the evening. TRNC Founding President Rauf Denktaş was buried on 17 January 2012 in Cumhuriyet Park with prayers and tears.