Founder of Turkish Cyprus, Rauf Denktas, dies at age 88

Founder of Turkish Cyprus and former President Rauf DenktaÅŸ has died at the age of 88.
His doctors have said that Denktas’s health had deteriorated following various problems with his internal organs and died on Friday night.

Turkish Cypriot government officials and senior army personnel came to the hospital where Denktas died. He was now in the intensive care unit for almost a week.

Denktas, who was first hospitalized in May following complaints stemming from high blood pressure, later underwent brain surgery in Ankara. He was admitted to a hospital in LefkoÅŸa on Jan. 5 following complaints of diarrhea and fatigue.

Denktas, 88, is the founder and first president of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC), a position he held from 1983 to 2005.

-Today’s Zaman