Dr. Fazıl Küçük was born on 14 March 1906 in Nicosia-Ortaköy. He continued his education in Nicosia and Istanbul and completed his medical studies in France and Switzerland. After specializing in internal medicine at the Lausanne clinics, he returned to Cyprus in May 1937 and began practicing as a private physician in Nicosia.
On 14 March 1942, he founded the newspaper Halkın Sesi; on 21 March 1943, he was elected to Nicosia Municipal Council and played a role in Cypriot Turkish political organizations along the lines of KATAK, KMTHP and KMTB between 1943 and 1949.
During the EOKA attacks in 1955, he participated in Cypriot Turkish defense organizations; on 17 February 1959, he represented the Cypriot Turks at the London Conference, signed the agreement, and on 3 December 1959 was elected the first Vice President of Republic of Cyprus. After 21 December 1963, he presided over the General Committee; on 27 December 1967, he became head of Provisional Turkish Cypriot Administration, and on 18 February 1973, he transferred his duties to Rauf R. Denktaş. Dr. Fazıl Küçük died in London on 15 January 1984 and was buried at Anıttepe in Hamitköy.
Fazıl Küçük was born on 14 March 1906 in Ortaköy, within the Nicosia district. His father, Mehmet Hüseyin Küçük, worked as a farrier and saddler in Nicosia; his mother was Pembe Hanım. Fazıl Küçük had seven siblings.
Fazıl Küçük’s official name in the population registry was Mustafa. During his school years, his teacher gave him the name “Fadıl”; hence, for a time he was known as “Mustafa Fadıl Küçük.” In 1945, he changed “Fadıl” to “Fazıl,” and thereafter he became known as “Mustafa Fazıl Küçük” or simply “Fazıl Küçük.”
His childhood and early youth unfolded against a historical backdrop in which Cyprus’s strategic position in the Eastern Mediterranean intensified international competition; the island’s administration had been transferred to Britain in 1878 and annexed in 1914. This period coincided with growing uncertainty regarding the public rights and political future of the Cypriot Turkish community, while the Ottoman State endured prolonged wars and political transformations.
Infographic on Dr. Fazıl Küçük (AA)
Fazıl Küçük’s education began in Nicosia. He started his primary schooling at Sarayönü School and shortly thereafter transferred to the school known as “Tarakçı Mektebi,” located in Haydarpaşa and named after its headmaster. He completed primary school in 1919. This period coincided with the years of the First World War, and his education was deeply affected by the social consequences of wartime conditions.
After primary school, he continued his secondary education in Nicosia. The secondary education path followed a curriculum encompassing the rüştiye and/or high school level, known in the terminology of the time as idadi. After completing the rüştiye in 1922, he traveled briefly to Egypt, where he studied French and German in Alexandria. This foreign language phase was short-lived; in 1923 he returned to Türkiye to continue his education.
In Türkiye, he completed his secondary education at Istanbul Özel İstiklal Lisesi/İstiklal İdadisi and graduated on 15 August 1926. Completing part of his secondary education in Nicosia and the remainder in Istanbul contributed to his educational path acquiring an early nationalist character.
After secondary school, he enrolled at the Faculty of Medicine of Istanbul Darülfünun and successfully completed his first year. He then chose to continue his education in Europe; on 12 June 1929, he severed ties with the institution and moved first to France and then to Switzerland. He completed his medical studies at the University of Lausanne, acquiring academic and clinical experience along the Paris–Lausanne axis.
This choice was also influenced by the limitations imposed by colonial administration on professional practice in Cyprus: non-British-trained physicians faced restrictions on opening private clinics or practicing within the island, prompting deeper specialization along European-centered educational lines.
After completing his medical education, he undertook specialization at the Lausanne clinics and became a specialist in internal medicine. Within this field, he conducted research on the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis. He also developed a secondary specialization in gynecology, taking into account the shortage of physicians in specific areas within the Cypriot Turkish community. Thus, his educational path acquired a multi-layered structure at the clinical specialization level.
His educational trajectory was supported by early language acquisition. During his time in Alexandria, he studied French and German; in his European educational and clinical environment, he maintained contact with foreign languages, especially French. Küçük, who was fluent in French, English and Greek, possessed a linguistic repertoire that supported both his medical training and his capacity for communication in public and political activities.
Following his education and specialization, he returned to Cyprus in May 1937 and began working as a private physician in Nicosia. Thus, his educational journey culminated in professional practice on the island after the phases of higher education and clinical specialization abroad.
After Dr. Fazıl Küçük’s return to Cyprus in 1937, his medical practice encountered the regulatory constraints imposed by British colonial administration. The colonial authorities claimed that physicians not trained in Britain could not open private clinics; thus, Küçük’s attempt to establish a private practice faced administrative obstacles. At this stage, he was expected to work in public hospitals; however, Küçük refused to serve under colonial authority. Shortly thereafter, the administration changed its stance and permitted him to open a private clinic. To publicly highlight the discriminatory approach applied to him, Küçük affixed a sign reading “Graduated from Switzerland” to the exterior wall of his clinic; this sign remains in place to this day.
Dr. Fazıl Küçük’s medical practice was not limited to clinical service alone; it evolved into a practice grounded in social support. On Fridays, he provided free medical examinations at his clinic; for patients unable to afford medication, he sometimes provided medicines he prepared himself or covered the cost of prescribed drugs from pharmacies using his own resources. This approach demonstrated that his medical activity was structured around accessibility and solidarity, directly addressing the daily health needs of the community.
Dr. Fazıl Küçük founded the newspaper Halkın Sesi on 14 March 1942 with the aim of creating a continuous publication platform capable of voicing the concerns of the Cypriot Turkish community, and he assumed editorial responsibility. This initiative took shape as a press activity designed to make visible, in a regular manner, the rights claims, daily problems and political objectives of the Cypriot Turkish community. Küçük positioned the newspaper as a public platform aimed at raising the political and cultural awareness of the community.
Küçük used the newspaper to debate the main issues facing the Turkish community on the island, highlighting topics such as the management of educational institutions, the transfer of Evkaf Administration, the revitalization of the muftiate, the transformation of the legal system, and the strengthening of the institutional presence of the Turkish community. In this context, Halkın Sesi served as a vehicle for bringing to public attention issues marked by institutional and political tension with the colonial administration. Küçük’s journalistic approach was grounded not in claims of neutrality but in a commitment to independence, placing the defense of Cypriot Turkish interests at its core.
Articles criticizing the colonial administration led to direct conflict; during this period, Halkın Sesi was shut down for three months. Sustaining publication faced not only administrative restrictions but also material and technical obstacles. Paper shortages occurred; due to the colonial administration’s refusal to supply paper, the newspaper’s paper needs were sometimes met using alternative materials such as packaging paper. The continuation of the newspaper under these conditions demonstrated that press activity was also a matter of resistance and perseverance.
Dr. Fazıl Küçük wrote columns and served as editor for Halkın Sesi, occasionally publishing articles under pseudonyms. The newspaper became a long-lasting publication organ in the political trajectory of the Cypriot Turkish community; even during periods when he held no political office, Küçük continued writing on social and political issues through this medium. Additionally, to reach a broader audience, the newspaper was published weekly in English under the title The Voice of The People.
Halkın Sesi became a public intervention tool deeply intertwined with Dr. Fazıl Küçük’s political activities. The publishing efforts conducted through the newspaper assumed functions such as keeping the institutional rights claims of the Cypriot Turkish community on the agenda, systematically addressing opposition to Enosis, supporting social organizations, and building ties with Turkish public opinion.
Dr. Fazıl Küçük (AA)
Dr. Fazıl Küçük’s political stance began to take shape during his university years, prior to his return to Cyprus. During this period, Küçük focused on institutional issues in education affecting the Cypriot Turkish community and developed a clear opposition to the Kavanin Meclisi, whose Turkish members insisted on British administrators managing Turkish schools. This resistance demonstrated Küçük’s early distance from local representation practices perceived as accommodating colonial authority and his placement of institutional autonomy at the center of his political agenda.
Küçük’s political orientation consistently centered on two institutional goals throughout his career: the transfer of control over Turkish schools and the Evkaf Administration to the Cypriot Turkish community.
These goals were based on the idea that the Cypriot Turkish community should exercise “unconditional” sovereignty over its own educational and charitable institutions. Küçük attempted to persuade the colonial administration to accept these demands; when persuasion failed, he adopted an open stance of resistance. Thus, his political attitude was not reducible to mere representation or electoral activity; it was a framework aimed at strengthening the community’s social existence through institutional control.
Küçük’s return to Cyprus in 1937 coincided with a period of intensified political activity. During these years, colonial administrative regulations in institutional domains and debates over the public rights of the Cypriot Turkish community supported Küçük’s emergence as a more visible political actor through both press activities and organizational initiatives.
After the 1931 uprising by Greek Cypriots, municipal elections were suspended and political representation channels remained limited for a long time. When municipal elections were resumed on 21 March 1943, Dr. Fazıl Küçük achieved a clear success against his opponents and thereby elevated his political activity to the level of institutional representation. This date marked a critical threshold where Küçük’s early political stance was concretely translated into a position within local governance.
Dr. Fazıl Küçük (TRT Archive)
Following the elections of 21 March, Dr. Fazıl Küçük assumed office as a member of the Nicosia Municipal Council and served in this capacity for six years. Municipal council membership corresponded to a period during which Küçük conducted his political activities within the framework of local governance mechanisms. In this context, Küçük became a more visible actor in municipal services, public representation and local decision-making processes for the Cypriot Turkish community.
The year 1943 marked not only the consolidation of Küçük’s position in local governance but also the acceleration of broader political organization efforts within the Cypriot Turkish community. Küçük actively participated in political organizations established that same year; his municipal council membership strengthened his internal representation capacity and laid the groundwork for the construction of more comprehensive institutional and political structures.
In 1943, the same year he was elected to the Nicosia Municipal Council, Dr. Fazıl Küçük sought to institutionalize the political organization of the Cypriot Turkish community. On 18 April 1943, he became one of the founders of the Cyprus Turkish Minority Organization (KATAK) and served in its governing structure. KATAK emerged as one of the earliest efforts to consolidate the rights claims of the Cypriot Turkish community on a political organizational basis in the early 1940s.
Dr. Fazıl Küçük, believing KATAK to be under the influence of British colonial administration, resigned from his position on the governing board and subsequently severed ties with the organization. This break demonstrated that the principle of “institutional independence,” central to Küçük’s political strategy, directly shaped his organizational choices. Küçük embraced the view that a more explicit “national structure” was necessary to achieve the social, economic, cultural and legal rights of the Cypriot Turkish community.
This organizational need materialized with the founding of the Cyprus National Turkish People’s Party (KMTHP) on 23 April 1944. It is known that 161 individuals gathered at the founding meeting and that the party was established under Küçük’s presidency. KMTHP centered its goals on protecting the rights of the Cypriot Turkish community and improving its welfare; it also adopted as a primary objective the prevention of Enosis, the Greek Cypriot aim of uniting Cyprus with Greece. Another critical feature was the party’s rapid organization across different settlements and its expansion throughout the island.
By the end of the 1940s, a trend toward consolidation emerged within Cypriot Turkish political and professional organizations. In this context, KATAK and KMTHP merged on 23 October 1949, and the political structure was reorganized under the name Cyprus National Turkish Union (KMTB). The merger was linked to the goal of consolidating the political representation capacity of the Cypriot Turkish community under a single umbrella and forming a more unified stance against the Greek Cypriot Enosis objective.
After the 1949 merger, Dr. Fazıl Küçük continued to advance the political organization of the Cypriot Turkish community along the axes of preventing Enosis and reinforcing the institutional rights of Cypriot Turks. During this period, two main focal points of political effort emerged:
As the Cyprus issue gained international visibility from the mid-1950s, Küçük intensified his contacts with Türkiye and undertook activities to convey the demands of the Cypriot Turkish community to Turkish public opinion. In this context:
On 1 April 1955, EOKA’s armed actions ushered in a new phase of conflict; this development significantly heightened security concerns within the Cypriot Turkish community. In 1955, Dr. Fazıl Küçük established a resistance organization named the Cyprus Turkish Resistance Union to enable Cypriot Turks to resist EOKA. This organizational initiative also brought threats directed at Küçük personally.
During this period, the organizational structure was reorganized for security reasons; the initial organization was quietly disbanded, and in September 1955, the VOLKAN organization was established. Thus, 1955 marked a period in which the social dimension of defense was added to the political organization of the Cypriot Turkish community. Following a congress held that year, the political organization’s name was changed on 15 August 1955 to the Cyprus is Turkish Party (KTP), and Dr. Fazıl Küçük assumed its general chairmanship. Thus, in the second half of the 1950s, Küçük occupied a decisive position both as a political leader and in the context of community security.
During the intensification of intercommunal conflict, the Turkish Resistance Organization (TMT) was established in November 1957. The founding of TMT was carried out by Rauf R. Denktaş, Dr. Burhan Nalbantoğlu and Kemal Tanrısevdi; Dr. Fazıl Küçük supported TMT and participated in coordination efforts to secure material, personnel and logistical support from Türkiye. Türkiye’s decision to support TMT was implemented as of 1 August 1958. During this period, the international dimension of developments in Cyprus also strengthened; negotiations in Zürich and then London in early 1959 initiated the process leading to the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus. Dr. Fazıl Küçük’s political mobilization, organizational efforts and coordination with Türkiye throughout the 1950s were among the key elements that laid the social and political groundwork for this new phase.
Dr. Fazıl Küçük participated in the London Conference on 17 February 1959, representing the Cypriot Turkish people following the agreement reached between the Turkish and Greek foreign ministers in Zürich. The conference process constituted the diplomatic stage in which the framework for a new political order in Cyprus was concretized.
Two days after the completion of the London negotiations, the agreement was signed by Dr. Fazıl Küçük on behalf of the Cypriot Turkish people. Thus, Küçük held the authority to sign on behalf of the Cypriot Turkish side in the political representation and approval mechanism of the 1959 agreements; the agreement texts established the legal and political foundation for the new state structure to be created in Cyprus.
According to the arrangements establishing the Republic of Cyprus, the President of the Republic would be Greek Cypriot and the Vice President Turkish Cypriot. This structure reflected the two-community partnership model at the highest executive level. In accordance with this constitutional arrangement, Dr. Fazıl Küçük was elected unopposed as the first Vice President of Cyprus on 3 December 1959. The election signified the transformation of Küçük’s role—developed through political organization, social representation since the 1940s and international engagement during the 1950s—into a constitutional office.
After a preparatory and organizational period of one and a half years, the Republic of Cyprus was proclaimed on 16 August 1960. With this date, Dr. Fazıl Küçük’s vice presidency was elevated to the highest level of executive power within the two-community partnership arrangement; the post-1960 period entered a new phase centered on constitutional functioning, joint governance practices and increasingly severe political crises.
Dr. Fazıl Küçük assumed the office of Vice President representing the Cypriot Turkish community and carried out the highest level of political representation for the Turkish side within the partnership’s executive structure. The constitutional system envisaged a joint approval mechanism between the President and the Vice President in areas such as defense, interior and foreign affairs; it also defined separate social jurisdictions for Turkish and Greek Cypriots through the Turkish and Greek Cypriot Communal Chambers in matters of education, culture and religion, with Turkish representation set at 30% in public service and 40% in the military.
The partnership arrangement generated tension in the implementation of constitutional rights granted to Cypriot Turks, under the influence of President Makarios III and Greek Cypriot executive cadres. This tension reached a critical threshold on 30 November 1963, when Makarios III presented a 13-point proposal package aimed at altering the constitutional framework. The proposal package sought to eliminate the Vice President’s veto power and the requirement for joint approval in key areas; it also targeted structural changes including the regulation allowing Turks to establish separate municipalities and the military command system. Dr. Fazıl Küçük opposed these changes on behalf of the Cypriot Turks.
The night of 20–21 December 1963, beginning with the killing of two Turks in the Tahtakale district of Nicosia, rapidly escalated into widespread attacks known as the Bloody Christmas. These attacks rendered the security situation acute for the Cypriot Turkish community and rendered the partnership arrangement effectively non-functional.
Türkiye, as one of the guarantor powers, conducted warning flights over Nicosia with military aircraft on 25 December 1963; this intervention contributed to the temporary cessation of the attacks. Nevertheless, within a few days, over 25,000 Cypriot Turks, citing security concerns, abandoned their homes in 103 mixed villages and moved primarily to Nicosia. Dr. Fazıl Küçük allocated a large portion of his land in Nicosia Ortaköy to the displaced.
Following the 1963 attacks, Cypriot Turks were excluded from the public and constitutional organs of the Republic of Cyprus; while the partnership regime continued to exist on paper, it had effectively transformed into a unilateral structure. In response, a governing structure incorporating legislative, executive and judicial elements was established within the Cypriot Turkish community; Dr. Fazıl Küçük assumed the chairmanship of this structure, known as the General Committee. This organization represented the first comprehensive phase of self-administration by Cypriot Turks, institutionalizing their own administrative and political processes. During this period, the Green Line demarcation separating Turkish and Greek Cypriot quarters in Nicosia was formalized on 30 December 1963 through a memorandum signed under Küçük’s chairmanship.
From 1964 onward, the areas inhabited by the Cypriot Turkish community endured a struggle for survival under conditions of security pressure and siege. During this period, mass attacks targeted Cypriot Turks in settlements such as Limassol (1964), Paphos (1964), Bogaz and Larnaca (1964), Erenköy (1964) and Geçitkale (1967). Türkiye provided support to the Cypriot Turkish community in various areas during this period.
Dr. Fazıl Küçük defended the security and institutional rights of Cypriot Turks during this period and initiated efforts to enhance social resilience in the areas of migration, health and basic needs. Through Turkish Red Crescent, the First Aid Hospital was established in Cyprus; medical personnel, medicines and medical supplies, along with basic needs such as shelter and food, were delivered to the island by air and sea. The construction of housing for displaced Cypriot Turks was among the primary humanitarian priorities of this period.
On 15 November 1967, 24 Cypriot Turks were killed in an attack on Turkish fighters in Geçitkale. In response, Türkiye intervened, issued a diplomatic note, and following Türkiye’s determination to act, Greek military elements withdrew from the island. Following this process, on 27 December 1967, the Provisional Cypriot Turkish Administration was established, and Dr. Fazıl Küçük was appointed its president. This step consolidated the self-administration practices that had emerged since 1963 into a more defined executive framework.
The conflictual period that began in 1963 and continued under severe security conditions until 1967 entered a new phase from 1968 onward; intercommunal negotiations commenced. The first negotiations were held in Beirut in 1968; this process initiated a long period during which the Cyprus issue would be addressed through dialogue. The continuing nature of these negotiations meant that political disagreements in Cyprus persisted without producing institutional solutions.
During this phase, the Cypriot Turkish side maintained a political position based on the founding partnership status of the 1960 arrangement; however, the de facto separation conditions since 1963 continued. Dr. Fazıl Küçük continued to defend the political rights of the Cypriot Turkish community as Vice President and, as president of the Provisional Cypriot Turkish Administration established at the end of 1967, played a decisive role in organizing the administrative capacity of Cypriot Turks. Thus, the post-1968 period progressed on a dual basis: on one hand, negotiations continued; on the other, Cypriot Turks preserved their self-administration elements.
Dr. Fazıl Küçük stepped down from the office of Vice President on 18 February 1973 and transferred his duties to Rauf R. Denktaş. This departure marked the institutional closure of Küçük’s long period of political responsibility, spanning from the 1959–1960 founding process, through the 1963 crisis, the 1967 administrative restructuring, and the post-1968 negotiation period.
The departure from office did not signify Küçük’s complete withdrawal from public life. Although he relinquished his political representation office, he continued to comment on the fundamental issues of the Cypriot Turkish community through his newspaper and maintained an active stance in defending social demands.
The illness he contracted in the early 1980s affected his work pace; however, Küçük did not abandon his writing activities entirely and continued to publish articles in the newspaper intermittently. Thus, the post-1973 period took shape as an era in which he continued to participate in public debate through the press, despite leaving official office.
Dr. Fazıl Küçük welcomed the declaration of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus on 15 November 1983 with joy. In his final statement before his death, he stated that his illness had receded and emphasized that witnessing the establishment of the TRNC had reconnected him with life. This period constituted the culmination of Küçük’s life trajectory within the institutional outcome of a long-standing political struggle.
Dr. Fazıl Küçük died on 15 January 1984 at the age of 78 in a hospital in the Westminster district of London, where he was receiving treatment. His body was brought to Nicosia and buried on a hill in Hamitköy, previously known as Mumcu Tepesi. The hill where his mausoleum was built came to be known as Anıttepe after his burial.
Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of Dr. Fazıl Küçük’s Death, 2024 (AA)
One of the main channels through which Dr. Fazıl Küçük’s public influence endured was the newspaper Halkın Sesi. He founded the newspaper on 14 March 1942 and served for many years as editor and columnist, occasionally publishing articles under pseudonyms. The newspaper became the longest continuously published publication in Cypriot Turkish press history.【1】 To reach a wider audience, Küçük also published Halkın Sesi weekly in English under the title The Voice of The People. The number of articles authored by Küçük as a journalist exceeds 2,000.
Among the works authored or published/edited under Dr. Fazıl Küçük’s name are:
Dr. Fazıl Küçük’s name is preserved through its assignment to Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and various institutions and organizations in Türkiye. Additionally, his legacy is maintained institutionally through a foundation and museum established by his family. In Halkın Sesi, the practice of leaving the editorial column blank on his birthday, 14 March, and his death anniversary, 15 January, has become a continuous commemorative tradition. Furthermore, the Turkish Armed Forces awarded him the “Cyprus Medal of Superior Courage and Sacrifice”.
[1]
Soyalp Tamçelik. "Fazıl Küçük (1906-1984)." Atatürk Ansiklopedisi. Erişim tarihi: 13 Ocak 2026. https://ataturkansiklopedisi.gov.tr/detay/448/Faz%C4%B1l-K%C3%BC%C3%A7%C3%BCk-(1906-1984).
Childhood and Family
Educational Life
Primary Education
Secondary Education
Higher Education
Clinical Specialization
Linguistic Proficiency and Intellectual Formation Through Education
Completion of Education and Transition to Profession
Professional Tension Under Colonial Administration and the Process of Opening a Clinic
Press Activities
Founding of Halkın Sesi
Thematic Focus and Critical Orientation
Political Life
The 1931 Uprising and the Threshold of 1943
Membership in the Nicosia Municipal Council
Founding of KATAK and Küçük’s Founding Role (18 April 1943)
Founding of the Cyprus National Turkish People’s Party (23 April 1944)
Transformation into the Cyprus National Turkish Union (23 October 1949)
EOKA Attacks and Initial Security Organizations (1955)
The Zürich–London Process and Transition to the Republic of Cyprus (1959–1960)
Vice Presidency (Post-1960)
Period of Negotiations After 1968, the Path to 1973 and Departure from Office (1968–1973)
Post-Office Period
Witnessing the Declaration of the TRNC (15 November 1983)
Death
Works and Legacy
