Azernews.Az

Turkey's political and military leaders joined thousands of Turkish Cypriots on Wednesday at a funeral service for former Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktaş, Today’s Zaman reported.

Turkey's President Abdullah Gül and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan were among mourners filing past Denktaş's coffin at the presidential palace where it lied in state for two days to pay their last respects before his burial in Lefkoşa, capital of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC).

Erdoğan wrote in a condolence book that Denktaş's death was a great loss for all Turks, but that Turkey would continue to support the Turkish Cypriots and the KKTC and be "the source of peace and freedom on the island," Turkey's state-run Anadolu agency reported.

Denktaş, a staunch opponent of reunification with the Greek Cypriots, was the force behind the 1983 declaration of an independent state which is recognized only by Turkey. Denktaş was the president of the KKTC until 2005 when he bowed out of politics, although he continued to be an outspoken critic of reunification.

The island joined the European Union in 2004, but only the internationally recognized Greek Cypriots in the south enjoy membership benefits.

A gun carriage transported Denktaş's coffin, draped with the flags of Turkey and the KKTC to the Selimiye Mosque - a converted 13th century Roman Catholic cathedral - for funeral prayers prior to burial.

Thousands of mourners lined the cortege's route, many wearing scarves and buttons bearing the late leader's image and breaking into applause as the coffin, escorted by a full military honor guard, drove past. Denktaş posters were on numerous storefronts.

"I feel like I lose my dad," Turkish Cypriot mourner Salih Kayım told the Associated Press. "We will always miss him...we thank him because he gave us freedom and we're living under our own flag," said the 39-year-old father of two small daughters.

"He was a great leader. We won't forget him, never," said Yusuf Mulladayılar, 54.

Denktaş's final resting place is the appropriately named Park of the Republic where he and other colleagues created the Turkish Resistance Organization, or TMT, in the 1950s as a counterweight to a Greek Cypriot guerrilla campaign against the island's then colonial ruler Britain to achieve union with Greece.

Denktaş, who died Jan. 13 at the age of 87, was as much loved by Turkish Cypriots as he was reviled by Greek Cypriots for his uncompromising vision over a six-decade-long political career to forge a separate Turkish Cypriot state. His influence extended beyond the island and into mainland Turkey where he was regarded as a defender of the Turkish Cypriots among politicians and the public alike.

He believed that Turkish Cypriots needed a separate state to preserve peace and prevent what he called the massacres of his people by the majority Greek Cypriots.

He didn't enjoy universal support among his people and his popularity waned in his later years as many Turkish Cypriots came to regard his unyielding views as an obstacle to a settlement that would bring them into the EU fold.

The KKTC is in a period of national mourning that is to last until sunset on Friday, and flags will fly at half-staff throughout the week in his memory. Turkey is also following suit and has announced mourning throughout the country until the funeral on Tuesday, and Turkey's missions overseas will also be keeping their flags at half-mast.