Rauf Denktaş, the constituent leader of the TRNC, was memorialized in Nicosia on the 11th anniversary of his death. In his speech at Denktaş’s mausoleum, President Ersin Tatar said, “The constituent leader of the TRNC, Denktaş is the architect of our current politics, we are his students, we listened to him, we followed him.”
Explaining that the Turkish Cypriot people’s resistance was led by Rauf Denktaş before 1974, Tatar stated that the Cyprus Peace Operation and Mehmetçik’s stepping on the island on 20 July 1974 was the “most important day” for the Turkish Cypriot people. Tatar also noted that to the public, we also remember Denktaş as “the leader who brought Turkish soldiers to the island.” Rauf Denktaş passed away on January 13, 2012.
