Turkish-born, U.S. educated Sel Erder Yackley has added another feat to her long list of accomplishments. Her memoirs “Never Regret the Pain: Loving and Losing a Bipolar Spouse,” is in its second printing by Helm Publishing.

Affectionately known as “Mama Turk” in Chicago for her nurturing nature Sel Erder Yackley was recognized as a Daughter of Ataturk at the turn of the century. Because she has played a leading role in every Turkish cause in the Midwest including the founding of the Turkish American Cultural Alliance (TACA) in the 1960s, she was honored with a Meritorious Service Award by ATAA in 2002.

(more…)

Based in Washington, D.C., Tülin Daloğlu is a correspondent for Turkey’s Star TV. She also writes a column for the Star newspaper.

Previously, Ms. Daloğlu was a reporter and producer for the BBC in Turkey. Her last assignment there was to cover the trial of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan. In the 2002 general election, she ran for a seat in Parliament as a member of the New Turkey Party.

Ms. Daloğlu earned B.S. and M.A. degrees in international relations at the Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey. She also completed an M.A. degree in journalism and public affairs at the American University in Washington, D.C.

Light Millennium E-Magazine Convenes A Global Community

(From Queens Chronicle, Thursday, March 25, 2004, Spring Guide, Page:26)
by Keach HAGEY
Queens Chronicle Reporter

From her home office in Richmond Hill, Bircan Unver, founder and editor of the quarterly e-magazine Light Millennium, tackles the big questions: Why can’t we feed everyone when there is more than enough food to go around? Why has the world’s wealth been distributed so unevenly for so long? And if everyone knows about these problems and still can’t stop them, then why are we here?

Her curiosity draws sympathizers from around the globe, who contribute essays, interviews, poems and photographs to the Internet publication.

Founded in 1999 and incorporated as a non-profit organization in 2001, the entirely volunteer-run site receives an average of 15,000 hits a day. “The original idea was to give people a chance to express themselves, to make people write, to make people think, to make them connect with each other,” Unver said.

The Internet has proved an invaluable tool for creating this connection, linking a core audience of Turks and Turkish-Americans to a global community of thinkers interested in peace, dialogue and international cooperation. Her contributors include a book editor living in Australia, a Buddhist businessman living in England, a poetess living in Seattle, a New York photographer and Stephen Kinzer, the first Istanbul bureau chief of the New York Times, now living in Chicago.

“What is especially interesting is that she publishes articles by people with great experience and provocative points of view,” Kinzer said. “Many private Web sites and blogs are filled with one person’s ramblings. Light Millennium is the opposite of that. It’s an increasingly sophisticated online magazine that provides insights that people won’t find in many other places.”

But Unver did not originally set out to make the Web her medium. The Turkish native moved to New York in 1990 to pursue a career in television production, after working as a freelance art journalist in Turkey for many years.

She took training courses at Queens Public Television, assisted a Turkish television producer and eventually began producing her own programs on art, culture and politics.

“At the beginning, I really thought that, if I learn this, that’s going to help me get a job, either here or in Turkey,” she said.

But on her 40th birthday, just after completing a master’s degree in media studies at the New School in May of 1999, she got a spark of inspiration and wrote a manifesto.

“I cannot stand this century most of the time and find the solution of thinking that I belong to a further century,” she wrote, in a document that became the foundation of the Third Millennium project, later renamed Light Millennium. “So let’s ignore the natural lifespan and continue our projects like we could live a thousand years.”

She took some HTML classes that summer, sent out an open invitation for contributions and published the first issue in August, in both Turkish and English.

Subsequent issues have focused on topics ranging from global hunger and nuclear war to science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke and Turkish-Greek relations.

This last topic is of particular interest to Unver, whose early memories of the media’s manipulation of the ancient rivalry between Turkey and Greece provided her first lessons in media studies.

“Since my childhood, whenever the government had a problem, it always came up with the danger that the Greeks will have war with us. This was the government’s agenda, but it has never really been the people’s. Over the years, politics and media shape people’s minds, and they shape people’s lives,” she said.

Light Millennium is her attempt to fight fire with fire. Her submission guidelines are wide open, with the exception of “materials that promote partisan politics, war, the production of nuclear weapons” or discriminatory statements. One aspect of the Web site, www.turkishgreeksynergy.net, provides a platform for thinkers to weigh in on ways to improve Greek-Turkish relations.

Beginning in 2000, such positive messages also began to be incorporated in official statements of the Turkish government which led by Former Foreign Minister Ismail Cem who received Statesmen Awards of the Year among Former Greek Foreign Minister, also current President of PASOK, George Papandreou which was given by the East & West Institute in New York City on May 2, 2000.

On January 26, 2004 of this year, accepting an honorary doctorate from St. John’s University, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan who also conveys this approach further, stated: “If we cannot get along with our neighbor, we cannot have peace in the world.”

But Unver knows that victory will not be won with good words alone. Like any good New School McLuhanite, she has made sure that her revolution is as much of the medium as the message.

She learned while writing for prominent Turkish newspapers and magazines -including Sanathaber, dPaper and Euroturks.com- that the mainstream media’s dependence on advertising can often seriously compromise its content. As a result, Light Millennium is commercial-free.

“Advertisement shouldn’t be allowed to remove any ideas. That’s why I founded it as a non-profit,” she said.

This stance means Unver has her work cut out for her. Budget limitations ended the publication’s ability to translate articles several years ago, and its inability to pay for a salaried grant writer has hindered fundraising efforts for the moment.

Still, the organization has a committed board of eight members and an ever-growing network of supporters.

Photographer Julie Mardin contributes articles, photographs, design and editing, and has been a board member for several years. “It’s about contributing toward a peaceful future, and helping people find their voice,” she said.

Figen Bingül, a Turkish translator from Hartsdale, found the Web site last year and has become the organization’s secretary. “I really like that people can express what they feel clearly there,” she said.

Their goal is to publish the e-magazine monthly in as many as five different languages, and to continue the Light Millennium TV series, workshops and events.

Bircan ÜNVER’s biography:
Independent Television & Web Producer, Freelance Journalist & Founder of the Light Millennium, A Public Benefit Organization, Queens, New York
Web site: www.lightmillennium.org
E-mail: bircanunver@lightmillennium.org or contact@lightmillennium.org

– Experience:
Web Producer
- Since August 1999, The Light Millennium and Isik Binyili on-line publications

- Turkish & Greek Synergy global e-platform

Independent Video Producer, Director and Editor
- Since 1992, Queens Public Television, NY
More than 45 original television programs both in English and Turkish.
For Videography:

Freelance Correspondent
- 1999- Present; Turkish Times, SanatHaber.Net, dPaper, Euroturks.com, Portreler, Light Millennium, Isik Binyili,
- 1990-1993; NY Hurriyet Newspaper and Hurriyet-Gosteri Art Magazine
Freelance Correspondent/Art Journalist
- 1984-1990, For various publications in Istanbul, Turkey. Including; Nokta, Sanat Olayi, Soz, Kadin, Sanat Cevresi, Hurriyet-Gosteri magazines and Cumhuriyet Newspaper.

Bureau Chief Assistant
- 1976-1983, Former Istanbul Bank, at the headquarters in Istanbul, Turkey

– Education:
MA in Media Studies,
- 1999, New School University.
- Thesis project: “All Ideas / Freedom of Expression in Turkey.”, a video documentary.

BA in Fine Arts,
- 1988, Mimar Sinan University, Istanbul, Turkey

– Publication:
“En Kutsali Yaratmak” (To create is most sacred),
By Bircan Unver, Say Publishing Company, Istanbul, Turkey. Interviews with artists, commentary on art exhibitions, and essays, in Turkish.

–Accomplishments:
The Light Millennium, Inc., A Charitable – Public Benefit Organization

Created, designed and introduced The Light Millennium e-magazine in August 1999, and incorporated under The Light Millennium, Inc.; as an “alternative multi-media global platform” and “public interest/charitable” organization with the status# 501 (c) (3), effective on July 17, 2001 based in New York. So far, e-published 15th issue in English with global participations as The Light Millennium global e-platform and organized several events since 2000.

Turkish & Greek Synergy (English & Turkish) As a contribution for the Global Peace Movement.
Launched since October 2000. Published 2 issue in English and Turkish.

Isik Binyili
Launched since August 1999 within the Light Millennium web site as its Introductory issue. The First issue was published in January 2000. So far, e-published 9 issue in Turkish within the Light MIllennium’s web site.

The Light Millennium TV Series
Launched since January 2000, monthly, in English. Each program highlights an independent issue such as art, artist profiles, culture, freedom of speech and peace.

– Awards
Distingueshed Woman Award in New York
November 10, 2004
Daughters of Atatürk Organization, CA

First Place in “Ethnic” Category
– CAPA Video Festival, November 2004, Flushing, New York
“Crescent & Star”

First Place in “Visual Arts”
– CAPA Video Festival,
November 2004, Flushing, New York
Matisse & Picasso at the MoMA

Golden Web Award, 2001-2002
- “Excellence achieved in Web Design, Content and Creativity.”
“The Light Millennium Internet Magazine”

First Place in “Arts”
- 1998 NorthEast Video Festival
Special Jury Award
- 1999 Hometown Video Festival
“The Walls of the World”
Produced, directed, written and edited.
Based on Turkish artist Burhan DOGANÇAY’s photographic archive from walls of the World, in English.

– Finalist
- 1997 Hometown Video Festival - Erol AKYAVAS: The Mark of the East
- 1994 Hometown Video Festival - 20th Century Latin American Arts, MoMA (Based on the exhibition)

“Erol AKYAVAS”
Produced, directed, written, and edited.
“Erol Akyavas”, a narrative documentary, which profiles Turkish artist Erol Akyavas’s arts and his Easthern philosophy, in Turkish.

– Organized, produced/co-produced lectures, conferences, events, exhibitions, poetry events, reading nights, special screening & campaigns since 2000:
* “Development in the Turkish Novel Between 1970-80”, 3 Lectures by Adalet AGAOGLU, co-organized; Stevens Institute of Technology , Hoboken; Columbia University, NYC., and Toronto University, Canada
(In collaboration with Toronto Library of Ankara, Inc.) On May 4, 5 & 7, 2005.
* “Cultural Diversity, Removing Prejudices & Fostering Global Connectiveness; panel; concept and co-produced, Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, May 4, 2005.
* Reflections From Sri Lanka & Tsunami” produced and presented at the Turkish House, NYC on May 2, 2005.
* “Turkish Medieval Humanist Mystic: Yunus Emre” by Prof. Talat Halman & Defne HALMAN, Actress; organized, Stevens Institute of Techonlogy in Hoboken, February 23, 2005
* “Rumi: Soaring to Ecstasy” A Presentation by Prof. Talat HALMAN & Defne HALMAN, Actress; organized, Turkish House, NYC, November 18, 2004.
* “Sakir Eczacibasi: Radical Departures”, Photography Exhibition; co-produced, Turkish Center Gallery, NYC, November 3-17, 2004 & December 11, 2004 in D.C., in conjunction with ATAA’s 25th Convention.
* ACIK SINIF - Okuma Aksamlari: Ahmet H. TANPINAR’in BES SEHIR kitabi, Türkçe, proje sahibi, 18 Ekim - 13 Aralik 2004; 8 hafta, Türk Evi, NYC. (Open Class – Reading Evenings, ‘FIVE CITIES’ by A.H.TANPINAR)
* “Journey in the Music World”, A Presentation by Arif MARDIN, organized, The Marmara Manhattan, NY, October 6, 2004.
* “When Peace Comes” A poetry project in English and Turkish created and organized in partipations with Ataturk Elementary School, Amity School and Pioneer Acedemy of Science.
* “The Fourth Emerging Power in the Middle East: Redefining the Turkish Media”; A Conference & Power Point Presentation by Nuri M. ÇOLAKOGLU; organized, incorporation with the Stevens Institute of Technology, in Hoboken, April 2, 2004.
* “Camera or Gun: How to produce your own television programs?” with guest speaker Clifford JACOBS, organized, February 25, 2004, NYC.
* “Crescent & Star” & “On Peace & Woman”; a special video screening, organized, December 16, 2003, NYC.
* “Timeless City Istanbul”, a watercolor exhibition by Omer MUZ; curator, November 4014, 2003, NYC
* “On Peace & Woman”, poetry reading event; organized April 24, 2003, Turkish Center, NY.
* 3rd Anniversary of The Light Millennium; presented & organized, NYC, April 5, 2003
* “To Many More Millennia Dear Nazim”, poetry reading event; organized, May 2 2002, Turkish Center, NY.
* “A Poetry Breeze Shores of Turkey”, poetry reading event; organized, May 2, 2001, Turkish Center, NY.
* 2nd Anniversary of The Light Millennium; presented & organized, NYC, April 6, 2002
* A Presentation of the Light Millennium Global Platfrom; presented, organized by ITSS, NYU, March 8, 2002
* “Women Days”; panelist, presented theme, “Alternative Media & Light Millennium”, Turkish Center, March 7, 2004, NY
* “Women Days”; panelist, presented theme,”The Essence of Internet and Public TV”, Turkish Center, March 3, 2001, NY.
* A Support Campaign For Fugen GÜLERTEKIN; organized; panel discussion & signature campaing, Turkish Center, March 17, 2001
* A Support Campaign For Fugen GÜLERTEKIN, Committee President for Federation of Turkish American Associations; organized a video screening and panel discussion, May 18, 2000, NYC
* A Video Presentation; produced and organized, May 4, 2000, Turkish Center, NYC.
* “On The Twentieth Century”; video documentary special screening; produced & organized, Jan. 13, 2000, Queens Public Television, Flashing, Queens, New York.

TV appearances:
– Sounds of People, Queens Public TV, April 2003
– Beyond the Borders, Brazilian Globe TV, July 2004
–- CNN-Turk, January 2005.
– Turkuaz TV, Canada, May 2005

About:
Ünver’den Türk Kültür ve Sanat Vakfi Projesi
HurriyetUSA, 19 Haziran 2005

Light Millennium E-Magazine Convenes A Global Community
by Keach HAGEY - Queens Chronicle Reporter -
March 25, 2004

An interview on Light Millennium
by Turkuaz Magazine, USA – Spring 2004

Producer Profiler – Queens Public Television

“Light Millennium” (LM) Project Celebrates its 2nd Anniversary
Acar: “Bircan believes in you more than you believe yourself. That is the reason behind the success of this” – Turkish Times, April 15, 2002

Queens Profile: Bircan Unver, by Sheila McKane
News Days – October 17, 1998 (in print & online available fee based)

– Born on May 2, 1959, mother of two children and lives in Queens, New York .

Anyone, who attended Galatasaray during the years of 1933 to l943 would remember Mahmut Abi as a little boy who loved movies, especially American movies, and who would very often sneak out of his dormitory at night and go to the 3rd floor balcony of the school conference room where the older boys would be watching films, hoping they would let him in to watch, too, and they usually did.

As time went on, he acquired as much information about America as he could. When he was in the 6th grade he prepared an American-style weekly magazine by hand, with even a cartoon and a crossword puzzle, and loaned it to be read among his classmates. He became an expert on American popular culture, especially on movies and songs. He became fluent in French and excelled in English. Owing to his association with the Jewish students in School he started to learn also another language,(Ladino) Spanish, and later on Portuguese. With a good mustache and correct hair cut, he earned the Nickname of Donamec for the Hollywood actor Don Ameche, whom, everyone said, he resembled a lot at that time.

After graduation, he spent three years as Muallim Muavini, a sort of a Teacher’s Aide at the school, then started writing articles for “PERDE VE SAHNE” published by Bedia Muvahhit, the favorite actress of the Turkish theatre in those days. He also worked 5 days a week for the Motion Picture Censor Board as a simultaneous translator/interpreter for English and French movies. Turkey was neutral during those Second World War days, but there had to be censorship, not to offend any of the countries involved. And while it was war time, there was also martial law. After completing his military school training in Ankara, Mahmut Abi was assigned to work at the office of the General in charge of the State government under martial law, as an interpreter/translator. He continued his services at the Censor Board, but wearing his 2n Lieutenant’s uniform to work. His abilities in the area of foreign languages would be a great help for him throughout his life. While attending the University of Istanbul in preparation for the banking career his mother wished for him, his heart and head were much more interested in Cinema magazines than banking. He began writing regular articles for several dailies and movie magazines. Yildiz was one of them. Several years later while in Hollywood he conducted and sent close to 50 interviews with big time stars and celebrities. But long before that, in 1943 he even published his own publication called SINEMAGAZIN, an enterprise which gave him, if not monetary success, a great deal of experience in journalism. He had one burning desire, and that was to get to the United States to study. In 1946 he researched every bit of information available on American colleges and universities entrance requirements, tuition, and cost of living, and wrote his book, AMERIKAYA DOGRU, a guide for students wishing to study in America. His book was a success .He earned enough funds from it to be able to further his education at the prestigious Indiana University in Bloomington.

Years later Mahmut Abi will learn from the Cypriot friend Dr. Ali Manizade that he personally was responsible for the good doctor’s coming to America. The story goes that when Ali Manizade was being sent to Germany for his medical education he read at a library in Ankara one day Mahmut Ozan’s book “Amerikaya Dogru” and convinced his parents that he didn’t want to go to Germany but the United States instead.

Finally, in 1947, he received acceptance to the School of Journalism of the University of Indiana in Bloomington. This should have afforded him a happy student life, but, unfortunately, the money he had entrusted or placed with a businessman relative was lost in a stocks venture and was completely gone.

Mahmut Abi in Indiana was being forced to return home. What saved him was the fact that he was the only Turkish student his professors and the members of women’s clubs had ever met, and by appearing before these groups, lecturing his audiences with color slide shows and explaining to them life in Turkey, and the culture of that Country unbeknownst the ordinary American people he raised enough money and won a full scholarship to finish his degree in journalism and foreign languages.

For a brief moment, during the summer before his senior year, when the eternal Hollywood bug bit him again, and he drove to California, landed a job as assistant manager of the Grauman’s Chinese theater, where he helped with the movie premieres and stars with their shoes and hands imprints cast in wet cement. He applied to Ben Bard’s school of acting not to become a movie actor, but to learn the art of making movies. His biggest fantasy was to make an epic saga on the Conquest of “Constantinople” and the Turkish Sultan Mehmet II. This moment in paradise, however, came to an end when the Immigration Dept. caught up with him. He was told he was illegally working on a student visa, and had to return to his university in Indiana to finish his studies.

It was Kismet that by going back to Indiana that fall he was going to meet and marry his Ruhan. That was 48 years ago this past February.

Mahmut Abi and Ruhan returned to Turkey in 1953. Being the very first Turk having received a degree in Journalism, he was offered the position to help establish the university’s Institute of Journalism. He was to set up operation, prepare curricula for the school and teach a couple of classes too, all for a grand total of TL. 150 a month. The highest salary for a governmental minister in the capital was TL.450 ,and the President of the University of Istanbul was paid TL. 350 at the time. However, at the end he was told he could not get the job because the position he was offered was a government job and his wife was not a Turkish citizen. Knowing that today even the military officers have non-Turkish spouses, Mahmut Abi just smiles and does not even complain any more. The next stop was Ankara. That job refusal previously in Istanbul landed him a much better and lucrative position at the U.S. Mutual Security Administration in the capital city of Turkey. He was hired on the spot as a Special Administrative Coordinator and Senior Interpreter. The MSA organization then was the precursor of the present A.I.D. He, as a specialist, was entrusted in preparing a wide variety of instructional pamphlets, the dubbing instructional films and guiding the American dignitaries on inspection tours of agricultural and energy producing projects of the programs. It was during one of those sessions when a Labor Law expert from the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, DC sought his help in trying to find a name for the Turkish labor unions. The meeting was in its 6th hour. Nobody knew what to name a hitherto non-existent labor organization. Marcus Schindler, the American labor relations expert, was getting a bit edgy. His Turkish counterparts wanted to use the term Lonca, which he scorned upon, because its translation meant Guild and/or Corporation but not Labor. Finally, Mahmut Abi suggested the French name for it “Syndicat.” Within a few minutes the word Sendika was born and quickly accepted and everyone went home satisfied with a new name in the Turkish alphabet.

After the birth of their first child, Deniz, Mahmut Abi changed course. Once more in the USA, and in Indiana, he returned to the University and completed his course work to teach Foreign Languages and Journalism, and began his career, teaching French, Spanish, Portugese, Journalism, Film making. He also trained scores of future Foreign Language teachers. He also initiated the Very first Study Tours abroad in Florida Universities in the early 60’s. He Was among the few Floridians who founded FTAA, Florida Turkish-American Association for Cultural Exchange, He served as its second President for 5 years. Mahmut Abi is the author of a several pages long epic poem in French entitled:”Une page d’Histoire a Galatasaray” which has been published in 1999 in France, and its second printing in the USA.

His second epic poem called : “Si Pierre Loti Retournait Chez Sa Bien-Aimee La Turquie was already put in a book form two years ago, in Nancy, in France by the literary magazine OLUSUM/GENESE .

The book also contains other interesting reading materials. Mahmut Esat Ozan retired as Professor Emeritus after 38 years of teaching. Although his dreams of producing a film on Ataturk, and the Conquest of Constantinople did not materialize, he made a good number of documentaries on a more personal scale.

As for his Journalistic drive, he found another theme that needed his attention and devotion. That theme is teaching the truth about his “Turkiye,” past and present to as many readers of the Turkish Times, English language newspaper, where he was a long time columnist. In the last 10 years, he has been working with no remuneration at the online Think Tank called the Turkish Forum as its Chairman of the Editorial Board as well as a member of the publication’s Advisory Board. He also writes occasional articles on Turkey at the local newspapers, such as the Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald published both in Miami, Florida..

Mahmut Abi has dedicated the last forty years of his life to publicizing of his country of origin, Turkiye. (The Republic of Turkey)

You can contact him at the following addresses:
meozan@aol.com or meozan@turkishforum.com

11/12/2002

HIS EXCELLENCY, THE FOUNDING AND FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE TURKISH REPUBLIC OF NORTHERN CYPRUS
RAUF R. DENKTAŞ
A statesmen, lawyer, journalist, and a teacher, Rauf Raif Denktaş was born in Baf in Cyprus on 27 January 1924. He graduated from the English School in 1942 after which he worked as a court clerk, interpreter, and teacher. In 1944 he went to the United Kingdom to study law and graduated from the Lincoln’s Inn in 1947. That same year, he returned to Cyprus to start his own law practice.
In 1948 he served as a member of the Consultative Assembly in search of self-government for Cyprus and became a member of the Turkish Affairs Committee. He was appointed as a prosecutor at the Attorney General’s Office in 1949, a job he held until 1958.
After resigning from his government duties, Denktaş started to play a more active role in the affairs of the Turkish community. He was elected as the chairman of the Federation of Turkish Cypriot Associations from 1949-1957. Meanwhile Denktaş took interest in journalism and wrote many articles on the problems of the Turks on the island in the newspaper, Halkın Sesi, published by Dr Fazil Küçük. When the ENOSIS movement, trying to incorporate Cyprus to Greece, turned to terrorism and started to attack the Turkish Community, Denktaş assumed a leading role in organising the Turkish Cypriot Resistance movement.
Denktaş advised the Turkish Government on the rights of the Turkish Cypriot people during the preparation of the Zurich and London Agreements in 1958, which paved the way for the creation of a bi communal partnership state after the British withdrawal in 1960. He was also the head of the Turkish Cypriot Delegation of the Constitutional Committee drafting the Cyprus Constitution.
With the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus in 1960, Denktaş was elected as the President of the Turkish Communal Chamber. After the unconstitutional expulsion of the Turkish Cypriots from their public posts and the collapse of the partnership state in 1963, Denktaş went to Ankara to continue with his struggle in consultation with the Turkish Government. Since his entry to the island was prohibited by the Greek administration, he could only return in 1968 and took up duties as the vice President of the Republic of Cyprus and President of the Turkish Cypriot Administration.
Following the Greek coup in Cyprus on 15 June 1974 and the landing of the Turkish troops on the island in July 1974, Denktaş played a key role in the proclamation of the Turkish Federated State of Cyprus. He is the founder of the National Unity Party in 1975. In the presidential election of 1976 he was elected as the President of the Turkish Federated State of Cyprus and was re-elected for a second term in 1981. In 1983, President Denktaş was the ‘architect’ of the proclamation of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. He was elected as the President in 1985, 1990, 1995, and 2000. He has also been the chief negotiator in the U.N. sponsored peace talks since 1968.
President Denktaş is married and has two daughters and a son. He is fluent in English and Greek. He is a very keen photographer. His photographs have been exhibited in many parts of the world. He is the author of more than forty books. He has been awarded Honorary Degrees by more than thirty Universities.

Early career
He was born in Baf (in Greek Paphos). He graduated from the English School in Cyprus. Following his graduation he worked as a translator in Gazi Mağusa, after that as a court clerk and then as a teacher for one year in the English School.
He later went to London and trained first as a teacher and then as a barrister at Lincoln’s Inn. He graduated in 1947. He returned home to practise as a lawyer. In 1948 he served as a member of the Consultative Assembly in search of self-government for Cyprus and became a member of the Turkish Affairs Committee. In 1949 he started working as a crown prosecutor which continued until 1958. In that capacity, he prosecuted some EOKA members who were found guilty and were executed by hanging, or imprisoned.
Political career
In 1957, Denktaş helped found the Turkish Resistance Organization (TMT) as a counter to EKOA. In 1958, he attended the U.N. General Assembly on behalf of the Turkish Cypriots, and in December of that year he advised the Turkish Government on the rights of Turkish Cypriot people during the preparation of the Zürich Agreement (signed February 19, 1959). In 1960, Cyprus won independence from Britain, and the Republic of Cyprus was established. Denktaş was elected as the President of the Turkish Communal Chamber.
In November 1963 President Makarios advanced a series of constitutional amendments designed to eliminate the provisions for the protection of the Turkish Cypriot community. This led to intercommunal fighting in December 1963, after which Turkish Cypriot participation in the central government ceased, and the partnership state collapsed. Upon these events, Denktaş went to Ankara for consultation with Turkish government. His entry to the island was prohibited by the Greek Cypriot leadership in years 1964-1968. Upon his return in 1968 he took up duties as the vice President of the Republic of Cyprus and President of the Turkish Cypriot Administration. This administration was formed after another outbreak of intercommunal violence in 1967-1968.

TRNC Presidential Flag
After the failed attempt of unification of Greek Cypriots with Greece in July 15, 1974, Turkey negotiated a joint military operation with United Kingdom to intervene. Failing this, Turkey exercised her right under the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee and landed 40 000 troops on the north coast of Cyprus. Eventually these troops controlled 37% of the island and a de facto Turkish state was born. Denktaş formed the National Unity Party, and in the following year and in 1976 he was elected President of the Turkish Federated State of Cyprus as the island was split into two sections.
In 1977 he signed high level agreements with Makarios III agreeing on a bizonal bicommunal federation for Cyprus. Similar agreements were signed in 1979 between Denktaş and Spyros Kyprianou.
He was elected as the President for a second term in 1981. He played a key role in the 1983 proclamation of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) which is internationally recognized only by Turkey. He was elected as the President of TRNC in 1985, 1990, 1995, and 2000.
Denktaş has been the chief negotiator in the United Nations sponsored peace talks since 1968. Over the years, various attempts by the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and Britain to resolve the conflict was rejected by both Denktaş and the Greek Cypriot negotiators.
Recent times
By 2000, the desire of both Cyprus and Turkey to join the EU led to renewed efforts to reach a settlement. In 2002 there were large demonstrations in northern Cyprus by Turkish Cypriots demanding reunification of the island, which would give them EU citizenship when Cyprus joins the EU in 2004. In December 2003 Denktaş’s party suffered heavy losses in legislative elections, suggesting that his days as the unchallenged leader of the Turkish Cypriots are coming to an end.
In February 2004 Denktaş embarked on a new round of UN sponsored talks with the Greek Cypriots, aimed at re-uniting Cyprus. However, he has opposed the settlement proposal (the “Annan Plan”), which was voted on by the two Cypriot communities in a reunification referendum on April 24, 2004. The plan was accepted by 65% of the Turkish community, but was rejected by the Greeks.
On May 14, 2004, Denktaş announced he would not be standing for a fifth term as President of the TRNC. His tenure as President came to an end following the April 17, 2005 election of Mehmet Ali Talat, who formally assumed office on April 25.
Other information
His favourite pastimes include photography and writing. His photographs have been in exhibitions in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Italy, former republics of the Soviet Union, Poland, France, Austria and Turkey. He has written about fifty books in English and Turkish. Between the years 1949 and 1957 he wrote many articles for the newspaper Halkın Sesi (Voice of the Nation), published by Dr. Fazil Küçük, the first Vice President of the Republic of Cyprus.
Denktaş has been the recipient of many awards and honorary doctorates given by various universities in Turkey, the TRNC and the United States. He is married with one son and two daughters. He lost one son in a traffic accident and another son in tonsillectomy. His surviving son Serdar Denktaş is also a politician, and as of 2004, he is the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the TRNC.
Books by Denktaş
• Saadet Sırları - Secrets of Happiness, 1941
• Ateşsiz Cehennem - Hell without Fire, 1944
• Criminal Cases, 1953-54
• A Handbook of Criminal Cases, 1955
• 12′ye 5 Kala - 5 to 12, 1964-66
• The Cyprus Problem, 1968
• The Akritas Plan, 1968
• A Short Discourse on Cyprus, 1972
• Gençlerle Başbaşa - Alone with Yougsters, 1981
• The Cyprus Triangle, 1982
• Gençlerle Hasbihal - Conversation with the Youth, 1982
• Cyprus Problem in a Nutshell, 1983
• Gençlere Öğütler - Advice to the Youth, 1985
• Kadın ve Dünya - Woman and The World, 1985
• Kuran’dan İlhamlar - Inspiration from The Qur’an, 1986
• İmtihan Dünyası - A World of Examination, 1986
• Yarınlar İçin - For Tomorrow, 1986
• UN Speeches on Cyprus, 1986
• Seçenekler ve Kıbrıs Türkleri - The Options and The Turkish Cypriots, 1986
• Cyprus, An Indictment and Defence, 1987
• The Cyprus Problem 23rd Year, 1987
• My Vision for Cyprus, 1988
• Atatürk, Din ve Laiklik - Atatürk, Religion and Laïcité, 1989
• Gençlerle Sohbet - Discussion with Youth, 1990
• Kıbrıs’ta Bitmeyen Kavga - Unending Fight in Cyprus, 1991
• Kıbrıs Davamız - Our Cyprus Issue, 1991
• İlk Altı Ay - The First Six Months, 1991
• What is the Cyprus Problem, 1991
• A Challenge on Cyprus, 1990-91
• Denktaş As A Photographer, Images From Northern Cyprus, 1991
• The Cyprus Problem and the Remedy, 1992, Nicosia (Lefkoşa)
• From My Album, 1992
• O Günler - Those days, 1993, Nicosia
• Images From Northern Cyprus, 1993
• Vizyon - The Vision, 1994, Nicosia
• Kapılar - The Doors, 1995, Nicosia
• Observations on the Cyprus Dispute, 1996
• Kıbrıs Meselesinde Son Durum - The Latest Situation in Cyprus Issue, 1996, Nicosia
• Rum Yunan İkilisi: İstenmeyen Cumhuriyetten Nereye? - Rum Yunan Duo: Where to from the Unwanted Republic, 1996, Nicosia
• Karkot Deresi - Karkot Stream, 1996
• Rauf Denktaş’ın Hatıraları, 1964-74, I. cilt (1964) - Memoirs of Rauf Denktaş, 1964-74, volume I (1964), 1996
• Rauf Denktaş’ın Hatıraları, 1964-74, II. cilt (1965), 1997
• Rauf Denktaş’ın Hatıraları, 1964-74, III. cilt (1966), 1997
• Rauf Denktaş’ın Hatıraları, 1964-74, IV. cilt (1967), 1997
• Rauf Denktaş’ın Hatıraları, 1964-74, V. cilt (1968), 1997
• Rauf Denktaş’ın Hatıraları, 1964-74, VI. cilt (1969), 1997
• Rauf Denktaş’ın Hatıraları, 1964-74, VII. cilt (1970), 1997
• Kalbimin Sesi - The voice of my heart, 1997
• In Search of Justice, 1997
• Rauf Denktaş’ın Hatıraları, 1964-74, VIII. cilt (1971-72), 1998
• Rauf Denktaş’ın Hatıraları, 1964-74, IX. cilt (1973-74), 1999
• Hatıralar, Toplayış, X. cilt - Memoirs, Putting It Together, vol X, 2000