Özker Özgür
Encyclopedia
Özker Özgür was a leading Turkish-Cypriot politician. Özgür, whose last name means “free” was born in 1940 in the village of Vretça, Paphos
Paphos
Paphos , sometimes referred to as Pafos, is a coastal city in the southwest of Cyprus and the capital of Paphos District. In antiquity, two locations were called Paphos: Old Paphos and New Paphos. The currently inhabited city is New Paphos. It lies on the Mediterranean coast, about west of the...

, Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...

. During 1961-1975 he worked as a secondary school English teacher on the island. With the votes of the teachers, he was elected to the founding parliament of the Turkish Federated State of Cyprus in 1975. Between 1976-1996 he served as the leader of the Republican Turkish Party
Republican Turkish Party
The Republican Turkish Party is a social democratic political party in the Republic of Cyprus. The party was founded in 1970 by Ahmet Mithat Berberoğlu, a lawyer, in opposition to the leadership of Fazıl Küçük and Rauf Denktaş.In the 1980s, the CTP's political position shifted to the left, to a...

 CTP in Cyprus. In the early general elections of 1993 he was elected to the Parliament and served as the Deputy Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...

 and State Minister for North Cyprus.

In 1997 he stepped down as the chairman of the Republican Turkish Party
Republican Turkish Party
The Republican Turkish Party is a social democratic political party in the Republic of Cyprus. The party was founded in 1970 by Ahmet Mithat Berberoğlu, a lawyer, in opposition to the leadership of Fazıl Küçük and Rauf Denktaş.In the 1980s, the CTP's political position shifted to the left, to a...

 due to internal party politics. He continued his political life as a member of the New Cyprus Party which then continued as the United Cyprus Party
United Cyprus Party
The United Cyprus Party is a left-wing, socialist party in Northern Cyprus. The party was founded on 2003 by İzzet İzcan. It supports the idea of a free, demilitarised and united Cyprus....

.

Özker Özgür died on 22 November 2005.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK