President of Northern Cyprus

The president of Northern Cyprus is the head of state of the unrecognised Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Rauf Denktaş was the first and founding president of Northern Cyprus, and retired in 2005. His position was taken over by Mehmet Ali Talat, followed by Derviş Eroğlu,^[2] then Mustafa Akıncı, and the current president, Ersin Tatar.

President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti Cumhurbaşkanı (Turkish)
Presidential Seal
Presidential Standard
Incumbent Ersin Tatar since 23 October 2020
Style	Mr. President (informal) The Honourable (formal) His Excellency (formal, diplomatic)
Residence	Presidential palace North Nicosia
Term length	5 years
Inaugural holder	Rauf Denktaş
Formation	15 November 1983; 41 years ago (1983-11-15)
Salary	₺45,000 annually (2021)[1]
Website	www.kktcb.org

The president is elected every five years. Presidential elections are held in two rounds if no candidate gains more than 50% of the votes in the first round. It is necessary that the president is originated from the island of Cyprus. The president must have lived in the country for five years, received secondary education and be over 30 years old.^[3]

The presidency is not a ceremonial position in the semi-presidential political system of Northern Cyprus. The president reserves the right to dismiss the Assembly of the Republic in case a government cannot be formed within sixty days or three successive governments receive votes of no confidence. They also can preside over the Council of Ministers if they wish to do so, approve the appointments of the judges and president of the Supreme Court and have the right to send laws approved by the Assembly of the Republic to the Supreme Court. The president has also traditionally been the chief negotiator for the resolution of the Cyprus dispute and been responsible for the foreign relations of Northern Cyprus.^[4]

The president is represented by the speaker of the Assembly of the Republic when the president is abroad.^[3]

The most recent presidential election was held on 11 October 2020. Ersin Tatar is the current president.^[5]

List of presidents of Northern Cyprus (1975–present)

President of the Turkish Federated State of Cyprus (1975–1983)

The Turkish Federated State of Cyprus was intended as an autonomous part of Cyprus, but was rejected by the government of the Republic of Cyprus.

No.	Name (Birth–Death)	Portrait	Elected	Term of office		Political party
1	Rauf Denktaş (1924–2012)		1976 1981	13 February 1975	15 November 1983	Independent (until 11 October 1975) National Unity Party (11 October 1975 onwards)

Presidents of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (1983–present)

This list gives all presidents after Northern Cyprus' unilateral declaration of independence in 1983, which followed after the refusal of the government of the Republic of Cyprus to recognize the Turkish Federated State of Cyprus.

No.	Name (Birth–Death)	Portrait	Elected	Term of office		Political party
1	Rauf Denktaş (1924–2012)		1985 1990 1995 2000	15 November 1983	24 April 2005	National Unity Party
–	Hakkı Atun (born 1935) (acting)[6]		–	15 March 1990	25 April 1990	National Unity Party
2	Mehmet Ali Talat (born 1952)		2005	24 April 2005	23 April 2010	Republican Turkish Party
3	Derviş Eroğlu (born 1938)		2010	23 April 2010	30 April 2015	National Unity Party
4	Mustafa Akıncı (born 1947)		2015	30 April 2015	23 October 2020	Independent
5	Ersin Tatar (born 1960)		2020	23 October 2020	Incumbent	National Unity Party

Timeline

Latest election

Main article: 2020 Northern Cypriot presidential election

Candidate		Party	First round		Second round
			Votes	%	Votes	%
	Ersin Tatar	National Unity Party	35,825	32.35	67,322	51.69
	Mustafa Akıncı	Independent	33,053	29.84	62,910	48.31
	Tufan Erhürman	Republican Turkish Party	24,008	21.68
	Kudret Özersay	Independent	6,356	5.74
	Erhan Arıklı	Rebirth Party	5,937	5.36
	Serdar Denktaş	Independent	4,653	4.20
	Fuat Türköz Çiner	Nationalist Democracy Party	327	0.30
	Arif Salih Kırdağ	Independent	282	0.25
	Alpan Uz	Independent	156	0.14
	Ahmet Boran	Independent	83	0.07
	Mustafa Ulaş	Independent	69	0.06
Total			110,749	100.00	130,232	100.00
Valid votes			110,749	95.66	130,232	97.24
Invalid/blank votes			5,027	4.34	3,699	2.76
Total votes			115,776	100.00	133,931	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			198,867	58.22	199,029	67.29
Source: Kibris Online, Kibris Online

See also

• Politics of Northern Cyprus
• Prime Minister of Northern Cyprus