Fazıl Küçük

Who was Fazıl Küçük?

Fazıl Küçük was the first Vice President of the Republic of Cyprus.

Fazıl Küçük, the son of a farmer, was born in Nicosia in 1906. After graduating from the Turkish High School in Nicosia, Küçük went on to study medicine at the Universities of Istanbul, Lausanne and Paris. Having returned to Cyprus in 1937, he started a practice, but his interest in politics soon led to him to become a voice for Turkish Cypriot rights. In 1941 Küçük founded the newspaper Halkın Sesi and became the managing editor. Due to his campaign against the British colonial administration, his paper was not given a permit for publication until 1942, the paper is still being published to this day.

In 1943, he became one of the founders of the Kıbrıs Adası; Türk Azınlık Kurumu. The aim of the party was to promote the social, economic and political well being of the Turkish Cypriot people. Due to disagreements with some of its members, Küçük parted with KATAK and established the Kıbrıs Türk Milli Birlik Partisi. Following a 15 year struggle, Küçük helped for the transfer of the Evkaf from British to Turkish Cypriot control.