Statesman (b. 27 January 1924, Baf
(Papjos) / Cyprus – d. 14 January 2012, Lefkoşa / Cyprus). He completed his
primary education at İstanbul Feyziati Primary School (1930) and Nicosia
Selimiye Primary School (1932) and secondary education at Nicosia English
School. He studied law in England. He graduated from Lincoln’s Inn (London,
1947). In the same year, he returned to Cyprus and worked as a public
prosecutor between 1949 and 1958. He was a member of the Constitution Council
that was organized by the Cypriot governor of the time in 1948. After he
resigned from his post in the government, he was appointed as Director of the
Turkish Institutions Federation of Cyprus. He worked in the preparation of the
English edition of the newspaper Halkın
Sesi. He resigned from his post at the Turkish Institutions Federation of
Cyprus after being selected as the Director of the Turkish Community Assembly
and Executive Committee in 1960.
He published the newspaper Nacak between 1960 and 1963. He was exiled
by the government for participating in covert operations for the Turk Cypriot
community. He returned to the island in 1968 and represented the Turkish
community in the negotiations between the two communities until 1974. He was
selected as Chairman of the Turkish Community Assembly in the July 1970 general
elections. He was appointed to this post again on 16 February 1973, and
inaugurated on 28 February 1973 as the Vice President of Cyprus and Chairman of
the Turk Cypriot Administration. He declared the Cypriot Turkish Federal State
on 13 February 1975 after the 1974 Turkish Peace Operation and served as the
President and Speaker.
He was elected president after the
elections in 1976 and 1981. He declared the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
in 1983 and continues his office as president having been reelected in 1990,
1995 and 2000. He wrote the screenplay İşgal
Altında (Under Siege) that was filmed by director Ünal Küpeli in 1992 and
broadcast by the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation; however it has not
been published. Besides his official duties, he has focused on writing and
photography. He has been given nearly fifty awards by various organizations
including honorary doctorates and professorships.
WORKS:
Saadet
Sırları (Secrets of
Happiness, 1941), Ateşsiz Cehennem (Hell
Without Fire, 1944), Criminal Cases
(1953), A Handbook of Criminal Cases
(1955), On İkiye Beş Kala (Five Past
Twelve, 1964), The Cyprus Problem
(1968), The Akritas Plan (1968), A Short Discourse on Cyprus (1972), Gençlerle Başbaşa (With the Young,
1981), The Cyprus Triangle (1982), Gençlerle Hasbihal (Chat with the Young,
1982), The Cyprus Problem in a
Nutshell (1983), Gençlere Öğütler
(Advices to the Young, 1985), Kadın ve
Dünya (Women and the World, 1985), Kur'an'da
İlhamlar (Inspirations in the Koran, 1986), İmtihan Dünyası (World of Exams, 1986), Yarınlar İçin (For Tomorrow, 1986), UN Speeches on Cyprus (1986), Seçenekler
ve Kıbrıs Türkleri (Options and Cypriot Turks, 1986), Cyprus An Indictment and Defense (1987), The Cyprus Problem, 23rd Year (1987), My Vision for Cyprus (1988), Atatürk,
Din ve Laiklik (Atatürk, Religion and Secularism, 1989), Gençlerle Sohbet (Conversations with the
Young, 1990), Kıbrıs'ta Bitmeyen Kavga
(The Never Ending Struggle in Cyprus, 1991), Kıbrıs Davamız (Our Cyprus Case, 1991), İlk Altı Ay (The First Six Months, 1991), What is the Cyprus Problem (1991), A Challenge on Cyprus (1990), Denktaş
As A Photographer, Images From Northern Cyprus (1991), The Cyprus Problem and the Remedy (1992), From My Album (1992), O
Günler (Those Days, 1993), Images
From Northern Cyprus (1993), Vizyon
(The Vision, 1994), Kapılar (The
Doors, 1995), Observations on The Cyprus
Dispute (1996), Kıbrıs Meselesinde
Son Durum (Last Situation of the Cyprus Issue, 1996), Rum Yunan İkilisi: İstenmeyen Cumhuriyetten Nereye? (The Rum Greeks
of Turkish Nationality/the Greek: Where to the Unwanted Republic?, 1996), Karkot Deresi (Karkot River, 1996), Rauf Denktaş'ın Hatıraları / 1964-74, I.
Cilt: 1964 (Memoirs of Rauf Denktaş, 1st volume: 1964, 1996), Rauf Denktaş'ın Hatıraları / 1964-74, II.
Cilt: 1965 (Memoirs of Rauf Denktaş / 1964-74, 2nd Volume: 1965, 1997), Rauf Denktaş'ın Hatıralar / 1964-74, III.
Cilt: 1966 (Memoirs of Rauf Denktaş / 1964-74, 3rd Volume: 1966, 1997), Rauf Denktaş'ın Hatıraları / 1964-74, IV. Cilt: 1967 (Memoirs of Rauf
Denktaş / 1964-74, 4th Volume: 1967, 1997), Rauf
Denktaş'ın Hatıraları / 1964-74, V. Cilt: 1968 (Memoirs of Rauf Denktaş /
1964-74, 5th Volume: 1968, 1997), Rauf
Denktaş'ın Hatıraları / 1964-74, VI. Cilt: 1969 (Memoirs of Rauf Denktaş /
1964-74, 6th Volume: 1969, 1997), Rauf
Denktaş'ın Hatıraları / 1964-74, VII. Cilt: 1970 (Memoirs of Rauf Denktaş /
1964-74, 7th Volume: 1970, 1997), Kalbimin
Sesi (The Voice of My Heart, 1997), In
Search of Justice (1997), Rauf
Denktaş'ın Hatıraları / 1964-7, VIII. Cilt: 1971-72 (Memoirs of Rauf
Denktaş / 1964-74, 8th Volume: 1971-72, 1998), Rauf Denktaş'ın Hatıraları / 1964-74, IX. Cilt: 1973-74 (Memoirs of
Rauf Denktaş / 1964-74, 9th Volume: 1973-74, 1999), Kıbrıs Girit Olmasın (Let Cyprus Not Be Crete, 2004).
