Father of Northern Cyprus' president passes away

LEFKOSA, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus

Rustem Tatar, the father of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Ersin Tatar, died early Saturday, an official announcement said on Saturday.

The elder Tatar, who undertook key roles and posts in the national struggle of Turkish Cypriots, will be buried in line with COVID-19 measures in the family cemetery in the capital Lefkosa, said the country’s presidency.

Born on Oct. 23, 1930, Rustem Tatar went to university in England, graduating from the University of Nottingham’s Finance and Economy Department in 1951, and in 1960 became an advisor to a Turkish delegation in negotiations over the island’s future.

The first comptroller general of the Republic of Cyprus founded under joint Turkish-Greek Cypriot partnership in 1960, he kept the role until 1963, when Greek Cypriots began attacks on Turkish Cypriots to seek unification with Greece.

After Turkish Cypriots were pushed out of state institutions by force, Tatar took responsibility for finance in a general committee established by Turkish Cypriots.

Between 1967 and 1975, Tatar served as finance and budget minister in the Transitional Turkish Cypriot Administration and Autonomous Turkish Cypriot Administration.

After the founding of the TRNC in 1983, he was the representative of Turkish Cypriots in the UN-supervised Committee on Missing Persons until 2005, and served as a consultant to the TRNC from 2005 onwards.

He was married with three children.

*Writing by Ali Murat Alhas