Özkan Yorgancıoğlu (born 1 August 1954) is a

Turkish Cypriot Turkish Cypriots or Cypriot Turks ( or ; ) are so called ethnic Turks originating from Cyprus. Turkish Cypriots are mainly Sunni Muslims. Following the Ottoman conquest of the island in 1571, about 30,000 Turkish settlers were given land onc ...

politician who has been

Prime Minister of Northern Cyprus The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus takes place in a framework of a semi-presidential representative democratic republic. The president is head of state and the prime minister head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive p ...

(TRNC) between 2 September 2013 and 16 July 2015. He is also the leader of the

Republican Turkish Party The Republican Turkish Party (, CTP; ) is a social-democratic political party in Northern Cyprus. The party was founded in 1970 by Ahmet Mithat Berberoğlu, a lawyer, in opposition to the leadership of Fazıl Küçük and Rauf Denktaş. On 30 ...

Early life and education

Yorgancıoğlu was born in 1954 in Lempa, a village in

Paphos Paphos, also spelled as Pafos, is a coastal city in southwest Cyprus and the capital of Paphos District. In classical antiquity, two locations were called Paphos: #Old Paphos, Old Paphos, today known as Kouklia, and #New Paphos, New Paphos. It i ...

, the westernmost district of

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

, which was, at the time, a

British crown colony A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony governed by England, and then Great Britain or the United Kingdom within the English and later British Empire. There was usually a governor to represent the Crown, appointed by the British monarch on ...

. He studied at

Istanbul University Istanbul University, also known as University of Istanbul (), is a Public university, public research university located in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded by Mehmed II on May 30, 1453, a day after Fall of Constantinople, the conquest of Constantinop ...

's Department of Economics and Public Finance, receiving his degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

in 1980.

Political career

On 28 April 2005, Yorgancıoğlu was appointed Minister of Youth and Sports in the cabinet of TRNC Prime Minister (PM)

Ferdi Sabit Soyer Ferdi Sabit Soyer (; born March 5, 1952) is a former Prime Minister of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, and former Leader of Republican Turkish Party (CTP). Soyer, a former union leader, has been a member of the TRNC parliament since 1985 ...

, who served from April 2005 to May 2009. In 2011, he replaced Soyer as Chairman of the

. After his party won the July 2013 legislative election, he became PM, replacing interim PM

Sibel Siber Sibel Siber (born 13 December 1960) is a Turkish Cypriot politician. She served as the Prime Minister of Northern Cyprus between 13 June 2013, following the fall of the government of İrsen Küçük in a vote of no confidence, and 2 September 20 ...

on 2 September."Handover Ceremonies" (Bayrak Radyo Televizyon Kurumu, 2 September 2013)
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References

1954 births 21st-century prime ministers of Northern Cyprus Government ministers of Northern Cyprus Istanbul University alumni Leaders of political parties in Northern Cyprus Living people Members of the Assembly of the Republic (Northern Cyprus) People from Paphos District Prime ministers of Northern Cyprus Turkish Cypriot socialists Turkish Cypriot expatriates in Turkey {{Cyprus-politician-stub