head of state
A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...
of the
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
Northern Cyprus ( tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs), officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC; tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti, ''KKTC''), is a ''de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the island of Cyprus. Reco ...
.
Rauf Denktaş
Rauf Raif Denktaş (27 January 1924 – 13 January 2012) was a Turkish Cypriot politician, barrister and jurist who served as the founding president of Northern Cyprus. He occupied this position as the president of the Turkish Republic of Nor ...
was the first and founding president of Northern Cyprus, and retired in 2005. His position was taken over by
Mehmet Ali Talat
Mehmet Ali Talat (born 6 July 1952) is a Turkish Cypriot politician who served as the president of Northern Cyprus from 2005 to 2010. Talat was the leader of the social democratic Republican Turkish Party ( tr, Cumhuriyetçi Türk Partisi, CTP) ...
, followed by
Derviş Eroğlu
Derviş Eroğlu (born 7 March 1938) is a Turkish Cypriot politician, who served as the president of Northern Cyprus from 2010Northern Cyprus's new president: Enter Eroglu (The Economist) Retrieved on 2011-06-01. then Mustafa Akıncı, and the current president,
Ersin Tatar
Ersin Tatar (born 7 September 1960) is a Turkish Cypriot politician, and the current president of Northern Cyprus. He became the prime minister following the collapse of the coalition government of Tufan Erhürman in May 2019 and served until hi ...
.
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
A semi-presidential republic, is a republic in which a president exists alongside a prime minister and a cabinet, with the latter two being responsible to the legislature of the state. It differs from a parliamentary republic in that it has a ...
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
A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/ shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nati ...
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
Northern Cyprus is recognised only by Turkey, a country which facilitates many of its contacts with the international community. After it was occupied by Turkey, Northern Cyprus' relations with the rest of the world were further complicated by a ...
Ersin Tatar
Ersin Tatar (born 7 September 1960) is a Turkish Cypriot politician, and the current president of Northern Cyprus. He became the prime minister following the collapse of the coalition government of Tufan Erhürman in May 2019 and served until hi ...
Politics of Northern Cyprus
The Politics of Northern Cyprus takes place in a framework of a semi-presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the president is head of state and the prime minister is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive p ...