Serdar Denktaş

Serdar Denktaş (born 1959) is a Northern Cypriot politician who led the Democratic Party from 1996 to 2000 and from 2002 to 2019, serving as a cabinet minister in numerous governments. He is the son of Rauf Denktaş, the former President of the de facto Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

He was the Minister of Finance of Northern Cyprus from April 2016 to May 2019. His previous portfolios include Labour, Settlement, Foreign Affairs, Economy, Tourism, Sports, Interior, Rural Affairs, Environment, State, Youth, National Education and Culture. He was also an acting Prime Minister from 23 April 2005 to 26 April 2005.

He was born in Nicosia in 1959. After completing a course in printing at the London College of Printing in the United Kingdom, he entered University College, Cardiff, to study Economics. However, he did not succeed in completing his studies and returned to Cyprus. He served as the General Manager of the Credit Bank of Cyprus.

In the 1990 General Elections he was elected to the TRNC Parliament as a National Unity Party MP for Nicosia, and served as the Minister of the Interior, Rural Affairs and Environment. He resigned from the NUP in 1992 and took part in the formation of the Democratic Party.

In the 1993 General Elections he was re-elected to his seat as a Democratic Party MP. He served in that government as the Minister of Youth and Sports. He became the leader of the Democratic Party in 1996. He served briefly as Minister of State and Deputy Prime Minister until the formation of a new coalition government.

He was re-elected to the TRNC Parliament at the 1998 General Elections. In 1991, he was appointed Minister of Tourism and Environment. At the general elections in 2003, he was re-elected and appointed as the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs until September 2006, when the Democratic Party was dropped as a coalition partner by the Republican Turkish Party.

He was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance on 16 April 2016. His term as Deputy Prime Minister ended 2 February 2018. He resigned as Minister of Finance on 8 May 2019.

He speaks Turkish and English. He is viewed as a more pragmatic politician in the Cyprus problem than his father.

Political titles Serdar Denktaş is known for serving under a large number of titles throughout his political career. The following table lists his governmental and legislative titles.

Title Start of term End of term Member of Parliament 18 May 1990 1 October 1993 25 December 1993 23 January 2022 Minister of Finance 16 April 2016 May 2019 Acting Prime Minister 23 April 2005 26 April 2005 Deputy Prime Minister 16 August 1996 30 December 1998 28 February 2003 25 September 2006 30 August 2013 22 May 2015 16 April 2016 2 February 2018 Minister of Interior, Rural Affairs and Environment 20 June 1990 8 May 1992 Minister of Sport, Youth and Environment 1 January 1994 18 January 1995 Minister of State 16 August 1996 30 December 1998 Minister of Labour and Settlement 11 March 1998 26 May 1998 Minister of Tourism and Environment 8 June 2001 28 February 2003 Minister of State Responsible for Tourism 28 February 2003 13 January 2004 Minister of Foreign Affairs 13 January 2004 25 September 2006 Minister of Economy, Tourism, Culture and Sport 30 August 2013 22 May 2015 Minister of National Education 3 October 2014 10 October 2014 Minister of National Education and Culture 2 November 2017 2 February 2018 Leader of Main Opposition 30 December 1998 2000 16 July 2015 16 April 2016