Rüstem Tatar is the father of President Ersin Tatar, and is one of the most prominent figures of the country, having once served as the Minister of Finance of the Cyprus Turkish Administration/Federated State, economist and a member of the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus.

His biography book, ‘Despite Everything – the story of Success, Justice and Sorrow, Rüstem Tatar’, was inaugurated at the Rüstem Bookshop in Lefkoşa on Friday. Authored by Ferhat Atik, the book launch event was attended by Rüstem Tatar himself, his wife, İsmet Tatar, his son and President Ersin Tatar, First Lady Sibel Tatar, other family members, the book author, Ferhat Atik and other writers.

Rüstem Tatar, addressing the event, shared some key moments of his life which is written in the biography. He said he had been granted a scholarship to study medicine when he was a student but that he had “abandoned” studying medicine and had instead studied economics.    He added that the ‘architect’ of the biography was Ferhat Atik, and thanked him for writing the book, saying: “I also thoroughly enjoyed his style of writing when reading the book”.


Rüstem Tatar explained that he is originally from Polili, adding that they had “started to collect the information for the book from this period of time of my life,” but said that “there were difficulties in finding sources,” for the book. “I therefore call on the state, people in all regions and villages and muhtars and officials to help facilitate the collation of information and documentation in relation to social life,” he said.


Rüstem Tatar said “there are people in every region and village who have knowledge and information on what has happened in people’s lives,” but said “all of these valuable memories of our history and life is lost when these people pass away”. 

“It is very important to develop a system that documents our lives, which preserves and records our history,” he said.   “This will ensure that we have sources of information that are automatically retrievable when needed. There is a shortage on such sources that we can pass down to our youth so that they can learn from our history,” he added.  “I think the most important issue facing us is to contribute to the preservation of historical information and to assign resources to achieve this aim,” he said.



Book author Ferhat Atik stated that he considers “biographies” to being very important sources of information, adding: “People’s lives fill the gaps between important historical events and Rüstem Tatar’s life, which is filled with struggles at different levels, includes such historical events that can be  presented to people as a documentary.”  

Mr Atik added: “I had great pleasure in writing this biography. The book is actually like a documentary. Information contained within the book is backed by photographs which depicts the different periods of the life of  Rüstem Tatar.  Individuals coming to life in a biography, acts as a beacon of light and offers a new perspective to the reader of all the different periods that have been lived. I took great pleasure in writing this book.”

Mr Atik explained that they had spent a long period of time preparing the book, adding that “Rüstem Tatar has a fantastic recollection of memories, and was able to convey with detail an event that happened 60 years ago. This has enriched the book with unique sources of information.”

Rüstem Tatar stated:

“I always wanted to pass on what I lived, the events that affected my life, and record my experiences in the form of a book. I had continuous demands from my family and friends, prompting me to take action to write my life story, to pass on what I know, what I learnt, or what I witnessed to future generations. Despite wanting to do this for many years, I could never find the time. Of course memories are very valuable for each and every person. This is the same for me. However the real issue was my belief that I should pass on my memories in relation to the responsibilities that I bore and the historical periods I passed through.” 



“I HAVE A PASSION FOR READING BOOKS”

Rüstem Tatar explained that when studying at high school, he had read the book ‘How to Make Friends and Influence People’ which was written by Dale Carnegie which he said had “greatly affected me”.   He said it had explained the importance of being able to put oneself in the other person’s shoes in any relationship, adding that “it is important to teach children the importance of reading books which leaves marks in their memories for the rest of their lives”.  He said this would “play a role in the children learning their culture, adding that the family also has an important role to play and that together, with the guidance of the state, we can achieve better results”.  



PRESIDENT TATAR: “MY FATHER HAS ALWAYS BEEN OUR GUIDE”

President Ersin Tatar lived emotional moments during the inauguration event of the book.

President Tatar thanked Ferhat Atik for his contributions and for writing the book.

Stating that his father, Rüstem Tatar, had provided “great service to the country and to the Turkish Cypriot people,” President Tatar said: “I have been brought up with the culture taught by my father and my father has always been our guide”.

Stating that he always tried to be a son worthy of his father Rüstem Tatar, the President said: "I am thankful that Rüstem Tatar is my father.”