Ünal Üstel (born 4 January 1955) 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 currently serving as the

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 ...

since 12 May 2022.

Biography

Üstel was born in 1955 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 ...

, and graduated from

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 Faculty of Dentistry in 1983. after returning to

Northern Cyprus Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a ''de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the Geography of Cyprus, island of Cyprus. It is List of states with limited recognition, recognis ...

, he was elected in to the Assembly of the Republic for

Girne Kyrenia is a city on the northern coast of Geography of Cyprus, Cyprus, noted for its historic harbour and castle. It is under the ''de facto'' control of Northern Cyprus. While there is evidence showing that the wider region of Kyrenia has be ...

as a member of the

National Unity Party The National Unity Party, National United Party, Party of National Unity or National Unity Front may refer to: * National United Party of Afghanistan (founded 2003) * National Unity Party (Albania) * National United Party (Armenia), defunct * Natio ...

, and became the chamber's vice president, a position he held between 2001 and 2002. He was re-elected in

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, and later returned to the assembly in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, being re-elected again in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

before becoming the chamber's vice president for a second time between 4 September 2013 and 9 October 2015. On 6 April 2011, Üstel became a member of

İrsen Küçük İrsen Küçük (1940 – 10 March 2019) was a Turkish Cypriot politician who was Prime Minister of Northern Cyprus from 2010 to 2013. He was the nephew of the Republic of Cyprus's first vice-president, Fazıl Küçük. Early life and educatio ...

's government as the Minister of Tourism, Culture, Youth and Environment. There he served for a period as the Minister of Public works before becoming the Minister of Health on 20 February 2021 following the dismissal of Ali Pilli. an office he held until 5 November 2021. he became the Minister of the Interior on 21 February 2022 following the formation of a new government. Üstel took office as the

on 12 May 2022 after successfully forming a government.

Personal life

Üstel is married and has two children.

References

{{Prime ministers of Northern Cyprus National Unity Party (Northern Cyprus) politicians 1955 births Living people People from Paphos Istanbul University alumni 21st-century prime ministers of Northern Cyprus