President Ersin Tatar’s father, Rüstem Tatar is remembered on the first anniversary of his demise
President Ersin Tatar: “We will never forget him”
Photos
President Ersin Tatar paid tribute to his late father Rüstem Tatar, for his great services to the Turkish Cypriot national cause, on the first anniversary of his demise at a specially held ceremony near his graveside at the Lefkoşa Turkish Municipal cemetery.
Rüstem Tatar, one of the most important figures in the Turkish Cypriot national cause, held many important positions including in the ministry for many years.
The ceremony was attended by Rüstem Tatar's son, President Ersin Tatar, as well as the Parliamentary Speaker Zorlu Töre, Turkish Ambassador to Lefkoşa Ali Murat Başçeri, Minister of Health Ali Pilli, Head of Religious Affairs Dr. Ahmet Ünsal, some deputies, family members and relatives.
Hakkı Atun read out an obituary, giving examples of key moments in the life of Mr Tatar and his service to the Turkish Cypriot cause.
“He was committed to the cause”
President Ersin Tatar addressing the ceremony, stated: “It has been a year since I lost my father, Rüstem Tatar. This past year has been one that has passed very slowly, and we are, as a family, still trying to cope with his absence.”
Stressing that Rüstem Tatar was committed to the Turkish Cypriot cause, the President added: “My father was also a loving, compassionate family man who loved his homeland. He was born in the village of Poli in 1930. My father graduated from primary school and went to the UK for education after graduating from high school. He returned to the island following his studies in the UK at the age of 25 and started to work at the Treasury and Accounting Department of the British Colonial Administration. He also served as a young advisor to Dr Fazıl Küçük and Rauf Denktaş during the London and Zurich meetings that established the Republic of Cyprus, and he was very much devoted to the Cyprus issue.”
Expressing that Rüstem Tatar had devoted his heart to the just struggle of the Turkish Cypriot people from those times, President Tatar stated that Rüstem Tatar was the first Auditor General of the Republic of Cyprus. Noting that Rüstem Tatar came face to face with the EOKA terrorist organisation and struggled in 1963 President Tatar continued: “Afterwards, with the assignment of the [Turkish Resistance Organisation] TMT, he continued his services as a Finance Minister of the Turkish Cypriot people, who was responsible for the financial affairs of the State at that time, until the establishment of the Turkish Federated State of Cyprus, and in the financial consultancy company he founded himself after 1976.” He added that his father also served in the Committee of Missing Persons in Cyprus for 22 years.
“He provided great services to the Turkish Cypriot people”
“My father continued to offer his ideas and opinions on different issues in writing up until his last days,” the President said. “He worked tirelessly and continuously until the age of 90 and provided great services to the Turkish Cypriot people.”
Pointing out that Rüstem Tatar always said that the Turkish Cypriot people should have separate sovereignty and independence, President Tatar emphasised that his father's view was that uniting with the Greek Cypriots in a unitary structure or under a federal roof would not be beneficial for the Turkish Cypriot people in the long term. “My father knew that the Greek Cypriots continue to aspire annexing the island of Cyprus to Greece and see the island as Hellenic, which indeed has always been the case,” he said.
Thanking everyone who attended the commemoration ceremony, President Tatar wished that his father Rüstem Tatar rests in eternal peace.
“We will never forget him,” the President underlined, adding that “he will always be remembered for his good work and services to the Turkish Cypriot people”.
Rüstem Tatar, one of the most important figures in the Turkish Cypriot national cause, held many important positions including in the ministry for many years.
The ceremony was attended by Rüstem Tatar's son, President Ersin Tatar, as well as the Parliamentary Speaker Zorlu Töre, Turkish Ambassador to Lefkoşa Ali Murat Başçeri, Minister of Health Ali Pilli, Head of Religious Affairs Dr. Ahmet Ünsal, some deputies, family members and relatives.
Hakkı Atun read out an obituary, giving examples of key moments in the life of Mr Tatar and his service to the Turkish Cypriot cause.
“He was committed to the cause”
President Ersin Tatar addressing the ceremony, stated: “It has been a year since I lost my father, Rüstem Tatar. This past year has been one that has passed very slowly, and we are, as a family, still trying to cope with his absence.”
Stressing that Rüstem Tatar was committed to the Turkish Cypriot cause, the President added: “My father was also a loving, compassionate family man who loved his homeland. He was born in the village of Poli in 1930. My father graduated from primary school and went to the UK for education after graduating from high school. He returned to the island following his studies in the UK at the age of 25 and started to work at the Treasury and Accounting Department of the British Colonial Administration. He also served as a young advisor to Dr Fazıl Küçük and Rauf Denktaş during the London and Zurich meetings that established the Republic of Cyprus, and he was very much devoted to the Cyprus issue.”
Expressing that Rüstem Tatar had devoted his heart to the just struggle of the Turkish Cypriot people from those times, President Tatar stated that Rüstem Tatar was the first Auditor General of the Republic of Cyprus. Noting that Rüstem Tatar came face to face with the EOKA terrorist organisation and struggled in 1963 President Tatar continued: “Afterwards, with the assignment of the [Turkish Resistance Organisation] TMT, he continued his services as a Finance Minister of the Turkish Cypriot people, who was responsible for the financial affairs of the State at that time, until the establishment of the Turkish Federated State of Cyprus, and in the financial consultancy company he founded himself after 1976.” He added that his father also served in the Committee of Missing Persons in Cyprus for 22 years.
“He provided great services to the Turkish Cypriot people”
“My father continued to offer his ideas and opinions on different issues in writing up until his last days,” the President said. “He worked tirelessly and continuously until the age of 90 and provided great services to the Turkish Cypriot people.”
Pointing out that Rüstem Tatar always said that the Turkish Cypriot people should have separate sovereignty and independence, President Tatar emphasised that his father's view was that uniting with the Greek Cypriots in a unitary structure or under a federal roof would not be beneficial for the Turkish Cypriot people in the long term. “My father knew that the Greek Cypriots continue to aspire annexing the island of Cyprus to Greece and see the island as Hellenic, which indeed has always been the case,” he said.
Thanking everyone who attended the commemoration ceremony, President Tatar wished that his father Rüstem Tatar rests in eternal peace.
“We will never forget him,” the President underlined, adding that “he will always be remembered for his good work and services to the Turkish Cypriot people”.