Rauf Denktash

Rauf Raif Denktash was born in Paphos on 27 Jan 1924. He trained as a barrister in London and practiced law in Cyprus in 1947. He was a member of the Consultative Assembly set up to work towards self-government for Cyprus. In 1957 he was one of the founders of the Turkish Resistance Organisation (TMT) which was formed to fight EOKA. In 1960, when Cyprus became independent he was elected President of the Turkish Communal Chamber. In 1963 Makarios drew up his plans for constitutional amendments which were seen as detrimental to the Turkish Cypriots, and violence broke out between Greeks and Turks. Denktash went to Ankara to consult with the Turkish government but was not allowed back into Cyprus. However by 1973 he was back, and elected as Vice-President in the Makarios government.
After Turkey occupied north Cyprus he became Speaker of the Legislature in 1975 and then President of the Turkish Federated State of Cyprus the following year, until 1978. He later served a second term in 1981. After the unilateral declaration of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus on 15 November 1983 he was elected President of the TRNC four times; 1985 1990 1995 and 2000. His involvement in talks to reunify the island resulted in failure to reach an agreement. The UN brought Denktash and Spyros Kypranou together for talks in New York in the autumn of 1984 but no agreement was reached and Kypryanou was blamed by both DESY and AKEL for unskilful and irresolute handling of the negotiations. Rauf Denktash’s health deteriorated throughout the 2000s due to a heart condition. He died on 13 January 2012 in Nicosia.

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