Mehmet Ali Talat

Mehmet Ali Talat
2nd President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
In office 24 April 2005 – 23 April 2010
Prime Minister	Ferdi Sabit Soyer Derviş Eroğlu
Preceded by	Rauf Denktaş
Succeeded by	Derviş Eroğlu
Prime Minister of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
In office 13 January 2004 – 24 April 2005
President	Rauf Denktaş
Preceded by	Derviş Eroğlu
Succeeded by	Ferdi Sabit Soyer
Personal details
Born	6 July 1952 (1952-07-06) (age 59) Kyrenia, Cyprus
Nationality	Turkish Cypriot
Political party	Republican Turkish Party
Spouse(s)	Oya Talat
Alma mater	Middle East Technical University
Religion	Sunni Islam

Mehmet Ali Talat (born 6 July 1952) is the former President of the unrecognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.^[1] He was the leader of the left wing Republican Turkish Party (Cumhuriyetçi Türk Partisi). He became prime minister in 2004, and subsequently won the Presidential election held on 17 April 2005. Talat was inaugurated on 25 April 2005, succeeding retiring President Rauf Denktaş.^[2]

Biography

Talat was born in Kyrenia on 6 July 1952 . Completing his secondary education in Cyprus, Talat graduated from Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department of the Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara, Turkey.^[3]

Involved in various political activities since he was a university student, Talat continued after he returned to Cyprus, and played an important role in the establishment of Turkish Cypriot trade unions and the Turkish Cypriot Students' Youth Federation (KOGEF), becoming the first chairman of its executive board.^[4]

He also participated in the youth movement of the Republican Turkish Party, and served in various committees and organs of the RTP for many years. He served as the party secretary for Education.^[5]

Political career in the TRNC

Talat was the Minister of Education and Culture in the first coalition government formed by the RTP-Democrat Party (DP) Alliance after the general elections of December 1993. He undertook the same post in the second DP-RTP coalition government, and became the Minister of State and Deputy Prime Minister in the third DP-RTP coalition government.^[5]

Talat was elected as the leader of the RTP on 14 January 1996, succeeding Özker Özgür. After being elected to the TRNC parliament on 14 December 2003, Talat formed another RTP-DP coalition government on 13 January 2004, at the behest of the then-TRNC President Rauf Denktaş, when the incumbent Prime minister Derviş Eroğlu was unable to do so.^[6]

Winning a victory in the 20 February 2005 general elections, Talat formed the second RTP-DP coalition, serving as Prime Minister until his election as the second TRNC President on 17 April 2005, when he asked RTP Deputy Leader Ferdi Sabit Soyer to form a new government.^[7]

During the 2004 referendum on the Annan Plan to extinguish the Republic of Cyprus through the formation of loose confederation along ethnic division in advance of its entry to the European Union, Talat promoted a 'Yes' vote among Turkish Cypriots and the plan received overwhelming endorsement north of the Green Line. However, Tassos Papadopoulos, the then President of the Republic of Cyprus, opposed the plan and the Greek Cypriot community rejected it by a large majority opting for an as yet undefined constitution along the EU norms principles such as universal suffrage. As a consequence, the plan was dropped, but the EU declared it would seek to implement trade concessions and other measures designed to alleviate the isolation of Northern Cyprus as a reward for the Turkish Cypriot referendum result. Talat remained publicly committed to reunification. However the pro-solutionist side and Mehmet Al Talat lost momentum, because of the ongoing embargo and isolation, despite promises from the European Union of easing them, which did not occur, and as a result the Turkish Cypriot electorate became frustrated. This led ultimately to the pro-independence side winning the general elections in 2009 and its candidate, former Prime Minister Derviş Eroğlu winning the presidential elections in 2010. Although his side and he himself disagrees with and opposes re-unification with the Republic of Cyprus, and favours the unity of and close relations between northern Cyprus and Turkey and supports the independence of the former, he nevertheless is negotiating with the Greek Cypriot side towards a settlement for reunification, to establish a bi-communal, bi-zonal federation in Cyprus, based on the political equality of the two communities, single sovereignty, single citizenship and international identity.^[8]

References

1. ^ "Mehmet Ali Talat". Biyografi.info. http://www.biyografi.info/kisi/mehmet-ali-talat. Retrieved 27 October 2011. 
2. ^ http://biyografi.bibilgi.com/Mehmet%20Ali%20Talat
3. ^ "Son Dakika Mehmet Ali Talat Haberleri". Sondakika.com. http://www.sondakika.com/mehmet-ali-talat/biyografisi. Retrieved 27 October 2011. 
4. ^ http://www.kktcb.eu/index.php?men=14&submen=13
5. ^ ^{a b} http://www.ctp-bg.com
6. ^ "Kim Kimdir?™ Biyografi Bankası – FORSNET". Kimkimdir.gen.tr. 4 December 2007. http://www.kimkimdir.gen.tr/kimkimdir.php?id=3014. Retrieved 27 October 2011. 
7. ^ "Mehmet Ali Talat Biyografisi". NedirKimdir.Org. 29 September 2009. http://www.nedirkimdir.org/mehmet-ali-talat-biyografisi/. Retrieved 27 October 2011. 
8. ^ http://www.ctp-bg.com

External links

• TRNC Presidency
• President Talat's Forward Magazine interview

Political offices
Preceded by Derviş Eroğlu	Prime Minister of Northern Cyprus 2004–2005	Succeeded by Ferdi Sabit Soyer
Preceded by Rauf Denktaş	President of Northern Cyprus 2005–2010	Succeeded by Derviş Eroğlu

Persondata
Name	Talat, Mehmet ALi
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	6 July 1952
Place of birth	Kyrenia, Cyprus
Date of death
Place of death