Denktash biography full

The Turkish Cypriot politician and statesman Rauf Denktash born began his working life as a lawyer but became engaged in the struggle for his community's rights. He served in this office for three terms. He came from a comfortable middle-class family, the son of a judge who worked in the British administration. After graduating from the English high school in Nicosia in , he worked as an interpreter in the courts, taught for a year in the English school, and began to write articles on the problems of Cyprus' Turkish community for Halkin Sesi Voice of the People.

He returned to Cyprus in and was appointed to the governor's "Constitutional Council. This movement fought for self-determination and enosisor union with Greece, which the Turkish-Cypriot minority resisted strenuously. Denktash, now a respected figure in his community, realized that he must play an active role in the resistance movement. He therefore resigned from government service in February and was elected president of the Federation of Turkish Associations of Cyprus.

Makarios parents

At the same time he continued his political journalism and published a weekly edition in the Voice of the People in order to present the Turkish thesis to the English-reading public. By the late s Denktash had become the spokesman for the Turkish case in the international arenas of London and New York. He led Turkish delegations in the constitutional talks and defended his community's interests in conferences in Athens and London.

As a result of his activities his position within the community continued to grow and he became the second most important leader after Dr. Fazil Kuchuk. Cyprus was declared an independent republic within the British Commonwealth on August 16, The constitution stipulated that political power would be shared proportionately between the two communities, each having its own legislature.