A ceremony was first held at the YDÜ Hospital where Denktaş passed. Followed by a second state ceremony held at the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Presidential Palace and attended by high-level state members from Turkey.
SOIL WAS BROUGHT IN FROM THE GREEK SIDE
After the ceremony, Denktaş was buried at the Cumhuriyet Park. Bearing tradition, soil was brought in to be placed on Denktaş's grave from three specific places. One batch of soil was brought in from the Hala Sultan Tekke, a very prominent Muslim shrine located near Lanarca on the Greek side of the island, another was taken from the gravesite of Denktaş's son and the third batch of soil laid on Denktaş's grave was brought from the homeland of Turkey. In his will, Denktaş had requested to be buried next to his son's grave.
WAS DENKTAŞ CONSERVATIVE?
Rauf Denktaş, the founder of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was not known for being a conservative politician. However, amongst his final words he stated, "Go to the mosque and pray for me". As a result, one of the most attention drawing aspects of yesterday's ceremonies was when soil was brought from the Hala Sultan Shrine for Denktaş's grave.
NAME BY NAME WHO CAME FROM TURKEY
The funeral ceremony was attended by President Abdullah Gül, Speaker of the Parliament Cemil Çiçek, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Deputy Prime Minister Beşir Atalay, Foreign Affairs Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, EU Minister and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bağış, Minister of Family and Social Policy Fatma Şahin, Minister of National Defense İsmet Yılmaz, Minister of Finance Mehmet Şimşek, Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdağ, European Council Parliamentarian Assembly Chairman Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Chief of General Staff General Necdet Özel, Land Forces Commander General Hayri Kıvrıkoğlu, Islamic Collaboration Organization (İİT) General Secretary Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, CHP Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, former CHP chairmen Deniz Baykal, Hikmet Çetin and Altan Öymen, MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli, Democrat Party Chairman Namık Kemal Zeybek, DSP Chairman Masum Türker, AK Party Deputy Chairman Ömer Çelik, Rahşan Ecevit, wife of the late former prime minister Bülent Ecevit, Saadet Party Chairman Mustafa Kamalak and BBP Chairman Mustafa Destici, Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB) Chairman Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, Alparslan Türkeş's sons MHP deputy Tuğrul Türkeş, AK Party Deputy Ahmet Kutalmış Türkeş as well as a number of others.
President Gül stood alongside Speaker of the Parliament Çiçek and Prime Minister Erdoğan at the head of Denktaş's coffin and offered their condolences to the Denktaş family. When President Gül offered his condolences to the widowed Aydın Denktaş, she laid her head against the President's chest.
