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, then Mustafa Akıncı, and the current president, Ersin Tatar.

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.

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.

The president is represented by the speaker of the Assembly of the Republic when the president is abroad.

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

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
style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"| 1	Rauf Denktaş (1924–2012)	File:Rauf Denktash.jpg	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
style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"| 1	Rauf Denktaş (1924–2012)	File:Rauf Denktash.jpg	1985 1990 1995 2000	15 November 1983	24 April 2005	National Unity Party
style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"| –	Hakkı Atun (born 1935) (acting)	File:Hakkı Atun.jpg	–	15 March 1990	25 April 1990	National Unity Party
style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"| 2	Mehmet Ali Talat (born 1952)	File:Mehmet Ali Talat.jpg	2005	24 April 2005	23 April 2010	Republican Turkish Party
style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"| 3	Derviş Eroğlu (born 1938)	File:Derviş Eroğlu (cropped).jpg	2010	23 April 2010	30 April 2015	National Unity Party
style="background:Template:Party color; color:black;"| 4	Mustafa Akıncı (born 1947)	File:Mustafa Akıncı 2017.jpg	2015	30 April 2015	23 October 2020	Independent
style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"| 5	Ersin Tatar (born 1960)	File:Ilham Aliyev received President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in Konya (1) (cropped).jpg	2020	23 October 2020	Incumbent	National Unity Party

Timeline

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Define $today = 30/04/2026

Colors =

 id:independent value:gray(0.8) legend: None_(Independent)
 id:nup         value:orange    legend: National_Unity_Party
 id:rtp         value:green     legend: Republican_Turkish_Party

 id:gray1  value:gray(0.85)
 id:gray2  value:gray(0.95)

DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1983 till:$today TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:1985 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1983

Legend = columns:1 left:150 top:35 columnwidth:170

TextData =

 pos:(20,38) textcolor:black fontsize:M
 text:"Political party:"

BarData =

bar:Denktaş
bar:Talat
bar:Eroğlu
bar:Akıncı
bar:Tatar

PlotData =

 width:5 align:left fontsize:9 shift:(5,-4) anchor:till

bar: Denktaş
 from: 15/11/1983  till: 23/04/2005 color:nup        text:"Rauf Denktaş"
bar: Talat
 from: 23/04/2005  till: 23/04/2010 color:rtp        text:"Mehmet Ali Talat"
bar: Eroğlu
 from: 23/04/2010  till: 30/04/2015 color:nup        text:"Derviş Eroğlu"
bar: Akıncı
from: 30/04/2015  till: 23/10/2020 color:independent text:"Mustafa Akıncı"
bar: Tatar
from: 23/10/2020  till: $today     color:nup         text:"Ersin Tatar"

</timeline>

See also

• Politics of Northern Cyprus
• Prime Minister of Northern Cyprus

External links

• Official website