Talat, Mehmet Ali
(1952–)

Mehmet Ali Talat is the current president of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), a government that no country except Turkey has recognized. He was the leader of the left-wing Republican Turkish Party (RTP, Cumhuriyetçi Türk Partisi), became prime minister in 2004, and consequently won the presidential election held on 17 April 2005. It was under his leadership that United Nations (UN)-sponsored negotiations between Turkish and Greek Cypriots were continued; however, bi-zonal, bi-communal settlement in Cyprus under the auspices of the UN has not been established yet.

PERSONAL HISTORY

Talat was born on 6 July 1952 in Kyrenia, Cyprus. After his graduation from Kyrenia high school, he began to study electrics at the electronics department of the Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara, Turkey. Besides his undergraduate work, he volunteered and became a president in student associations that had been established by Turkish Cypriot students. He was also the founder and the first chairman of Turkish Cypriot Students' Youth Federation (KOGEF). Talat's active role in student associations was translated into his early political career in the youth movement of the Republican Turkish Party. He served on various committees and organs of the RTP for many years.

After graduating from university, he returned to Cyprus and worked as a refrigerator repairer in Kyrenia. He continued his political career and was assigned as the minister of education and culture in the first Democrat Party (DP; Demokrat Parti)-RTP coalition government, formed after the parliamentary elections held in December 1993. He continued in the same position during the second DPRTP coalition government. In the third DP-RTP coalition government, he was assigned as the deputy prime minister and minister of state of the TRNC.

Talat was elected as the leader of the RTP in the fourteenth convention of the Party, which was held on 14 January 1996. This was a turning point in his career, and his political stand began to manifest itself more clearly during these years. He became the leader of the Turkish Cypriots who wanted the unification of the island—the northern, Turkish part of Cyprus controlled by the TRNC and the southern, Greek part controlled by the Republic of Cyprus—and who were prepared to vote yes in the historical referenda of the plan developed by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Talat was elected as a member of parliament from Nicosia in the 1998 and 2003 parliamentary elections, and he formed his first DP-RTP coalition government on 13 January 2004. The same year, he completed his M.A. degree in international relations at the Eastern Mediterranean University, where he submitted his thesis titled "Cyprus Problem and the Annan Plan." After the early elections held on 20 February 2005, he formed the second DP-RTP coalition government on 8 March 2005, which continued until the latest presidential elections.

BIOGRAPHICAL HIGHLIGHTS

Name: Mehmet Ali Talat

Birth: 1952, Kyrenia, Cyprus

Family: Wife, Oya Talat; one son, one daughter

Nationality: Turkish Cypriot

Education: Middle East Technical University (METU), Ankara, Turkey, 1977, M.Sc. electrical engineering; Eastern Mediterranean University, 2004, M.A. international relations

PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY:

• 1993: Becomes the minister of education and culture in TRNC
• 1996: Elected as leader of the RTP
• 2004–2005: Forms the RTP and DP coalition government
• 2005: Elected as the second president of TRNC, following president Rauf Denktaș

The presidential journey of Talat begins prior to the 2004referendum on the Annan Plan. Talat became the opponent of the first president of the Turkish Cypriots, Rauf Denktaș, who was opposed to the plan. Mehmet Ali Talat initiated a campaign where he instructed Turkish Cypriots about the content of the Annan Plan. A favorable vote (65%) from the Turkish Cypriots was a sign of change in the whole political system of the Turkish Cypriots. Talat, one year after the referendum, was elected president in the first round of elections. On 25 April 2005 Talat became the second president of TRNC, replacing the retiring president Rauf Denktaș. Since then, Talat as the president of the Turkish Cypriots continues to represent a more peaceful and European position.

Talat, who speaks fluent English and German, is married to Oya Talat, and has a son and a daughter.

INFLUENCES AND CONTRIBUTIONS

Talat has dedicated his entire life to clarification of the Cyprus problem. The conflict in Cyprus has influenced and shaped his political views. He has been working on the negotiations for the Cyprus conflict for several years and has been influenced by the idea of bringing a comprehensive, bi-zonal, bi-communal settlement into Cyprus under the auspices of the UN. His policy is toward the unification of the island, thereby having the Turkish part of the island join the European Union (EU). Presently, only the Greek Cypriot side has entered the EU. Since the failure of the Annan Plan, negotiators for reunification continue meeting under the auspices of the UN representatives. On 8 July 2006 Cypriot President Papadopoulos and President Talat met for the first time since 2004.

For more than forty years, the Turkish Cypriot people have been living under embargoes covering all aspects of life. The lifting of embargoes has been made conditional on the settlement of the Cyprus issue. Reaching an end to the Cyprus issue has not materialized due to Greek Cypriots' negative vote for the Annan Plan. Therefore, President Talat believes that the restrictive measures imposed on the Turkish Cypriot people should be lifted. He suggests that the Greek Cypriot stance to squander numerous opportunities no longer be tolerated and the Turkish Cypriot people should not be left in the cold. Among many embargoes imposed on the Turkish Cypriots, the ban of direct flights to North Cyprus is one of the most significant obstacles for Turkish Cypriots seeking to integrate with the world. Mehmet Ali Talat's application to the British Civil Aviation for direct flights to North Cyprus demonstrates one of his numerous contributions.

THE WORLD'S PERSPECTIVE

Success in achieving his political goals and bringing prosperity to the isolated and economically backward north of the island would enable President Talat to shrug off the legacy of the past. Mehmet Ali Talat is a keen pro-European politician who has lobbied hard for the reunification of the island of Cyprus. Unlike his veteran predecessor, Rauf Denktas, who retired after leading the Turkish Cypriot community for three decades, Talat would like to see reunification and membership of the EU for the whole island.

Some local political analysts believe a new era is in store for the north under Talat's pragmatic approach to politics. Compared to Denktas, Talat is more willing to compromise. President Talat urged the EU and UN to revitalize negotiations on the future of Cyprus and end the international isolation of the north.

LEGACY

Talat has dedicated his life to politics, focusing on solving the problems of Cyprus. His efforts, and the success of his campaign (with a 65 percent favorable vote from the Turkish Cypriots) for the Annan Plan, changed the EU's perspective about Turkish Cypriots. The EU understood the desire for a comprehensive solution in Cyprus, and promised Turkish Cypriots it would lift the sanctions imposed upon them. The fate of Cyprus is still unclear but the future will be promising for ultimate peace.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

"Cyprus Politics: 'EU Left Us in the Lurch.'" EIU ViewsWire (New York). 25 May 2006. Available from http://www.viewswire.com/article2010505986.html?pubtypeID-930000293&text-euleftusinthelurch.

"Turkish Cypriot Leader Denies He Will Resign Over Dispute with Turkish Army." British Broadcasting Corporation: BBC Monitoring Europe—Political. 8 January 2007.

                                                        Gunes Aygok