Mustafa Akıncı

Mustafa Akıncı (Turkish: [mustaˈfa akɯnˈdʒɯ]; born 28 December 1947) is a Turkish Cypriot politician who was the president of Northern Cyprus from April 2015 until October 2020.

An architect by profession, Akıncı in 1976 became the first elected mayor of the Nicosia Turkish Municipality in Northern Cyprus, at the age of 28. He defeated a candidate endorsed by President Rauf Denktaş as the candidate of the Communal Liberation Party (TKP). He held this position for an uninterrupted term of 14 years until 1990, leading several projects for the city that won him international awards including the Aga Khan Award for Architecture and collaborating with his Greek Cypriot counterpart. Meanwhile, he rose to prominence and gained influence within his party, first becoming Secretary General and then leader in 1987. He served as a member of the Assembly of the Republic between 1993 and 2009 and as the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State between 1999 and 2001. His leadership of the TKP ended in 2001. He established the Peace and Democracy Movement in 2003 and served as its leader.

Akıncı is a long-standing advocate of the reunification of Cyprus and has opposed Turkey's increasing influence in Northern Cyprus. His stance has seen strong opposition from the Turkish government in Ankara, which supported his rival Ersin Tatar in the 2020 presidential election. Akıncı lost re-election to Tatar, taking 48% of the vote in the run-off.