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 Turkish-Cypriot politician, academic, first Defence Minister of the 1960
Republic of Cyprus.Born in Nicosia in 1925, Örek graduated from
Istanbul University
Faculty of Law in 1949 and later became Barrister-at-Law at London's
Middle Teple Inn in 1952. Between 1952-1959 he served as Barrister in his native Cyprus.
During 1955-56 he served as part of the Turkish-Cypriot legal team together with the then Turkish-Cypriot leader Dr. Fazil Küçük negotiating the island's new constitution with the British Colonial Government, headed by
Governor Lord
Harding. In 1959 he served together with
Dr. Fazıl Küçük and Rauf R. Denktas in the negotiations establishing the Republic of Cyprus.
Upon the declaration of the Republic, Osman Örek became the first minister of defence of the new republic as well as elected as the member of parliament for
Nicosia district. After the illegal Greek-Cypriot takeover of all organs of the new republic in 1963, Örek became the Turkish-Cypriot representative to the UN of the Autonomous Turkish-Cypriot Administration between 1963-1967.
He continued his post until 1976, when he was elected as member of parliament for Nicosia
(National Unity Party,
UBP) in the newly established Turkish Federated State of Cyprus. Upon this he was elected as the first Speaker of the parliament on 3 July 1976. Two years later, he formed the second government of the
TFSC (23 April 1978-1 December 1981) serving as the Prime Minister. Upon the
declaration of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, he served as a constituent member of the new parliament, responsible for writing its new constitution.
During the next decade, Osman Örek served as professor of International Law at the
Eastern Mediterranean
University. Örek died in London on 24 March 1999.
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