Cyprus-Forum.com

[cannedmoose]

Done that and any more i will be looking for a new job.

I'm impressed at the poll figures so far... perhaps we will miss him after all...



Does anyone else think he looks strangely like Brother's 'Flat Eric' avatar

[cannedmoose]

“Turkey has not given up on Cyprus, Turkey will not give up on Cyprus,” Denktash said. “No one should believe such false propaganda. Our salvation is with Turkey, it lies with walking alongside Turkey and by standing against the EU together.”

Although with quotes like this, I guess it really does show how out of touch he is with how things are today... such a shame.

[Bananiot]

The GC's have already handed over a coveted present to Denktas. On the 25 of April 2004, Denktas cried out "thank god the GC's voted no".

[garbitsch]

Yea, and Denktas declared the Greek no vote as "victory". We were expecting Greek Cypriots to erect a statue of Denktash! ehhehe

[MicAtCyp]

As long as Hellenic ruling elite insist on majority rule, return of all refugees and nullification of treaty of guarantee; the result wouldn't be different.

It seems you don't know the difference between ruling elites and the average people. Because those things are what the GC people want. On the other hand you are right, why should we ask for our rights? Everything that counts is your rights and the rights of your settlers.

Long live to Deenktashi and his followers. Good luck in his TMT neww career. He said today he is going to continue as the leader of that Terrorist organisation didn’t he?

[cannedmoose]

Is TMT still operational?

[uzan]

[quote="cannedmoose"]Is TMT still operational?[/quoteYES IT IS STILL OPERATIONAL.

[turkcyp]

Interesting article from Telegraph.....

"After training as a barrister in London, Mr Denktash returned to Cyprus to practise law. As acting solicitor general during the armed Greek Cypriot struggle against British rule in the 1950s he successfully prosecuted several EOKA terrorists who were subsequently hanged."

May be that is why GCs hate Denktas so much.

I also find the underlined section interesting. I do not know if he sincerely believed in what he said but nevertheless it was interesting.

***

Denktash stands down as Turkish Cypriots prepare to go to polls
By Tabitha Morgan in Nicosia
(Filed: 15/04/2005)

Rauf Denktash, the Turkish Cypriot leader whose intransigence has scuppered many attempts to reunite the island, is retiring after almost 60 years in public life.

When Turkish Cypriots hold elections on Sunday, Mr Denktash will be absent from the ballot, opening the way for a more flexible leadership for the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
One of the world's longest serving political leaders, Mr Denktash, 81, became president in 1983.

He began representing the Turkish Cypriot community in 1947, during British colonial rule, when he was elected to a consultative committee examining the prospects for independence.

Over recent decades diplomats have regularly blamed the Turkish Cypriot leader for the failure of proposals to solve the Cyprus problem.
He has long been regarded as a hate figure by Greek Cypriots, but has more recently been criticised by his own community for his refusal to compromise. He is unrepentant about his inflexibility. After leaving office he plans to remain in politics, concentrating on opposing "those who would bargain off the independence of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus".

The presidential office, situated in the former residence of the British District Commissioner for Nicosia, is a noisy one. Mr Denktash is surrounded by dozens of caged song birds whose chirps and trills punctuate meetings with visiting dignitaries. "They help me to relax," he says.

After training as a barrister in London, Mr Denktash returned to Cyprus to practise law. As acting solicitor general during the armed Greek Cypriot struggle against British rule in the 1950s he successfully prosecuted several EOKA terrorists who were subsequently hanged.

When Britain withdrew from Cyprus in 1960 it left the new country with one of the most complicated constitutions in the world, designed to ensure a balance between the two communities.

As he goes into retirement, Mr Denktash believes he can pinpoint a key moment during the early years of the new republic when the chance for harmony between the two communities was lost.

He says the new head of state, Archbishop Makarios, could easily have achieved his aim of enosis or union with Greece after independence if he had been more generous in his treatment of the Turkish Cypriot minority.
"If he had promoted Turkish Cypriots instead of trying to exclude them, and then all of a sudden called a referendum on enosis he would have won it easily," he says.

Mr Denktash is likely to be succeeded by Mehmet Ali Talat, who advocates a more conciliatory approach.

Like most Turkish Cypriots, Talat, the current prime minister, supports re-unification and full integration into the European Union.

His recent success reflects a shift in Turkish Cypriot public opinion away from Mr Denktash's isolationist policies.

But after decades of Mr Denktash's obduracy, it is now the Greek Cypriots who are standing in the way of reunification.

In April last year the Greek Cypriots rejected the United Nations plan for bringing the two sides together - the same plan which the Turkish Cypriots had approved, in defiance of Mr Denktash.

Mr Talat says that as a Turkish Cypriot he is unable to "address directly the anxieties that Greek Cypriots have about a solution".

Mr Denktash has a far more pugnacious explanation: "The Greek Cypriots will never understand they cannot just walk all over us."

[Saint Jimmy]

May be that is why GCs hate Denktas so much.

I don't know, but I really don't think so. Personally, the reason I dislike the man is not because he was active in convicting EOKA men (I barely knew about that, but even so, I remain undecided as to whether the EOKA struggle was a pure struggle - meaning that I'm not sure there weren't elements to it that I don't agree with), but because I have become convinced through the years (perhaps wrongly so) that he never truly worked for reunification. In my mind, all he ever wanted was to maintain his 'state' and promote it to state, instead of trying to figure out how to bring the two communities together.

As he goes into retirement, Mr Denktash believes he can pinpoint a key moment during the early years of the new republic when the chance for harmony between the two communities was lost.

He says the new head of state, Archbishop Makarios, could easily have achieved his aim of enosis or union with Greece after independence if he had been more generous in his treatment of the Turkish Cypriot minority.
"If he had promoted Turkish Cypriots instead of trying to exclude them, and then all of a sudden called a referendum on enosis he would have won it easily," he says.

'Both sides have made mistakes. Our biggest was that when we were in a position of strength we did not give a little more to finish the Cyprus problem. Now the Turks are making the same mistake. They are in a position of strength and they are demanding their pound of flesh.'
Glafcos Clerides, 1985 (cited in 'The Cyprus Conspiracy: America, Espionage and the Turkish Invasion', Brendan O'Malley and Ian Craig)

Sounds like they're on a similar wavelength.

[efe]

i agree that denktas wasnt the smartest leader however he was a leader of TC ommunity and he spent his lifetime to support TCs. (in his own way)

i kind of think he is like arafat, he doesnt want reunification, he doesnt trust GCs but for the people he represented, he didint do much wrong.

i also think he is humorous. : )