Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu

Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Incumbent
Assumed office 16 April 2016
Prime Minister	Hüseyin Özgürgün
Preceded by	Emine Çolak
Minister of Transport
In office 16 July 2015 – 16 April 2016
Prime Minister	Ömer Kalyoncu
Preceded by	Hasan Taçoy
Succeeded by	Kemal Dürüst
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Defense
In office 31 November 1998 – 16 January 2004
Prime Minister	Derviş Eroğlu
Preceded by	Taner Etkin
Succeeded by	Serdar Denktaş
Personal details
Born	1953 (age 62–63) Nicosia, British Cyprus
Political party	National Unity Party
Alma mater	University of Arizona

Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu (born 1953) is a Turkish Cypriot politician. He is a member of the Assembly of the Republic representing the National Unity Party in the Lefkoşa District. He has served in different ministerial positions, including a five-year tenure as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Defense between 1998 and 2004.

Early life and education

He was born in 1953 in Nicosia and studied political science in the University of Arizona, graduating in 1981. In 1983, he started working in the Northern Cyprus Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Defense.^[1]

Political career

Between 1986 and 1991, he worked in the TRNC Representation in London, after which he was appointed as the undersecretary of the Prime Ministry, where he worked until 1994. He was re-appointed to the same post in 1996, afterwards, he also occupied the post of presidency in BRT.^[2]

In the 1998 parliamentary election, he was elected as a member of the parliament from Lefkoşa District in the National Unity Party (UBP). Between 1999 and 2004, he served as the Turkish Cypriot Minister of Foreign Affairs and Defense. He was reelected in 2003, 2005, 2009 and 2013. Between 16 December 2006 and 29 November 2008, he was the president of the UBP.^[2] On 15 March 2010,^[2] he was expelled from the UBP due to his candidacy in the presidential election against the party's leader, Derviş Eroğlu. He received 3.81% of the popular vote in the election. Afterwards, a court ruling deemed his expulsion unlawful.^[3] On 15 July 2011, he established his own party, the Democracy and Trust Party,^[4] which he abolished in 2012 to rejoin the UBP. In 2014, he created controversy by calling Özdil Nami, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, "a child".^[5] In July 2015, he became the Minister of Transport, in the cabinet under Ömer Kalyoncu.^[6] He is Minister of Foreign Affairs since 16 April 2016.

Ertuğruloğlu defines himself as a Turkish nationalist, seeing himself as a Turk living in Cyprus and defining Cypriotness as a "geographical identity" secondary to Turkishness. He advocates a two-state solution to the Cyprus dispute, with the aim of the recognition of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.^[7]

Controversies

In a controversial decision, Ertuğruloğlu on 20 May 2016 restricted Greek Orthodox communities to only hold a single religious service per year, with the exceptions of the Apostolos Andreas Monastery in Rizokarpaso, the Monastery of St. Barnabas in Famagusta and St. Mamas' Church in Morphou. The decision was criticised by the Turkish Cypriot group Famagusta Initiative as well as Burak Maviş of the Turkish Cypriot Teachers’ Trade Union (KTÖS) but was defended by the Association of the Ex-Servicemen of the Turkish Resistance Organisation leader Yılmaz Bora.^[8]

During the buildup to the Annan Plan for Cyprus referendum in 2004, Ertuğruloğlu was criticised as a "radical nationalist". This was due to his reportedly saying "if need be, I will fight in the mountains and continue my struggle". Ertuğruloğlu has said that his words have been misinterpreted and he never made such a statement, but, being not bothered by people's perception that he made such a statement, he "wished that he said that" and that he had said "we need to resist the Annan plan, even risking death if there is the need".^[7]

Personal life

He is married with two children.^[2]

References

1. "Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu (1953 - .... )". kimkimdir.gen.tr. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
2. "Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu". TRNC Republic of the Assembly. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
3. "Ertuğruloğlu'nun UBP davasının sonucunda tüm taraflar memnun". Kıbrıs Postası. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
4. "Ertuğruloğlu'nun Demokrasi ve Güven Partisi bugün resmen kuruldu". Kıbrıs Postası. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
5. "Ertuğruloğlu: "Nami haddini bilmesi gereken bir çocuk!"". Kıbrıs Postası. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
6. "Kıbrıs Türk siyasi tarihinde bir ilk: CTP - UBP Koalisyonu" (in Turkish). Kıbrıs Postası. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
7. "Türkiye de KKTC'nin tanınması politikasını izliyor" (in Turkish). Kıbrıs. 5 February 2007. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
8. Andria Kades (24 May 2016). "Turkish Cypriot side restricts Orthodox church services in north". Cyprus Mail. Retrieved 24 May 2016.