Display of letters reveals attempts on Denktaş’s life
ORIGINAL letters by Rauf Raif Denktaş documenting an alleged 1984 attempt on his life went on show at the capital’s Ottoman Library this week alongside philatelic history and collections of archive documents.
The exhibition curator, American University of Cyprus (AUC) Professor Ulvi Keser, said: “There are 516 objects on show including collections of 1974 letters from prisoners of war, writings of the 1960s, correspondence from the Red Crescent, the Erenköy resistance and letters liberated in 1976 from Yugoslavia.”
He added that of the many attempts on the life of the TRNC Founding President, the claims concerned a trip by Mr Denktaş to London in 1984 with his wife Aydın and their three-year-old grandchild.
Following their late-night arrival at a London hotel, Mr Denktaş claimed a toxic gas had almost incapacitated him after he answered his hotel room telephone. He said a laboratory had confirmed it to be a Bulgarian assassination device but would not verify that in writing.
Mr Denktaş also claimed to have avoided an attack by a Greek Cypriot protester bearing a cross studded with nails at a conference later that week.
Prof Keser said he had reworked a American University of Cyprus show which won a gold medal at the İzmir 2016 National Stamp Exhibition.
Eight panels and 256 exhibits from the İzmir show include a Cyprus Turkish Postal History from Turkish authorities, a History of Military Postings in Cyprus and a History of Turkish Military Postings in Overseas UN and Nato Missions, fielding over 160 documents which won the Great Vermey Medal in their category.
A 2015 silver medal-awarded Girne American University collection, Greek Propaganda in Postal Activities, is also included.
The show launched at 10am on Thursday and may be visited on weekdays from 9am to 5pm until Thursday, or between 9am and 1pm today.
The Ottoman Library, former residence of the Paphos-born Müftü of Cyprus Hacı Ali Rıfkı Efendi, is in Kamil Paşa Sokak, in the Arabahmet district, with free parking available in nearby Tanzimat Sokak.
THE TRNC Post Office stamped letters with a custom postmark to commemorate the exhibition at the launch on Thursday. Envelopes with the special imprint are also on sale at the capital’s post office Philately Branch, opposite the law courts.