Rauf Raif Denktaş, or Denktash (27 January 1924 – 13 January 2012), also referred to as Babatürk after his death, was a Turkish Cypriot politician, barrister and jurist elected in 1973 as the Vice-President of the Republic of Cyprus. He later became recognised by Turkey as the founding President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), claiming that position from 1983 to 2005.

Denktaş was born in Paphos to judge Raif Mehmet Bey and Emine Hanim, Turkish Cypriots. He graduated from The English School, Nicosia in Cyprus. Following his graduation he worked as a translator in Famagusta after that as a court clerk and then as a teacher for one year in the English School. He later went to Istanbul and London, training first as a teacher and then as a barrister at Lincoln's Inn. He graduated in 1947 and returned home to practice law.

In 1948 Denktaş served as a member of the Consultative Assembly in search of self-government for Cyprus and became a member of the Turkish Affairs Committee. He was a crown prosecutor 1949–1958.

Emine Ülker Tarhan (born 29 November 1963) is a Turkish jurist and politician with the Republican People's Party (CHP). She was formerly a judge at the High Court of Appeals. Currently, she serves as the vice spokesperson of her party in the parliament.

Emine Ülker Tarhan was born in Tarsus, Mersin. She was educated in Ankara University, Law School. After working as a free-lance lawyer, she became a public defender. She served as a judge at the High Court of Appeals.

Emine Ülker Tarhan was a founding member of the Judges' and Prosecutors' Association (YARSAV). She served as its secretary general and chairperson.

She joıned the Republican People's Party (CHP), and entered the Turkish Grand National Assembly as deputy from Ankara after the general elections on June 12, 2011.

Emine Ülker Tarhan is married and has two children.

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (IPA: [ɾeˈd͡ʒep tajˈjip ˈæɾdoan]; born 26 February 1954) has been Prime Minister of Turkey since 2003 and is chairman of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), which holds a majority of the seats in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. Erdoğan served as Mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998. He graduated in 1981 from Marmara University's Faculty of Economics and Commercial Sciences. Erdoğan was also a semi-professional footballer from 1969 to 1982.

Erdoğan was elected Mayor of Istanbul in the local elections of 27 March 1994. He was banned from office and sentenced to a prison term for reciting a poem during a public address in the province of Siirt on 12 December 1997. The poem was allegedly quoted from a book published by a state enterprise and one that had been recommended to teachers by the Ministry of Education. After six months in prison, Erdoğan established the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) on August 14, 2001. From its first year, the AK Party became the largest publicly-supported political movement in Turkey. In the general election of 2002 the AK Party won nearly two-thirds of the seats in parliament, forming the first single-party government for 9 years.

Sami Süleyman Gündoğdu Demirel, better known as Süleyman Demirel (Turkish pronunciation: [sylejˈman demiˈɾel]; born 1 November 1924), is a Turkish politician who served as Prime Minister seven times and was the ninth President of Turkey.

Demirel was born in İslamköy, Atabey, a town in Isparta Province. Upon completion of his elementary school education in his hometown, he attended middle school and high school in Isparta and Afyon, respectively. He graduated from the school of civil engineering at the Istanbul Technical University in 1949. Demirel worked in the state department for electrical power planning in 1949. He undertook postgraduate studies on irrigation, electrical technologies and dam construction in the United States, first in 1949-1950, then in 1954-1955. During the construction of the Seyhan Dam, Demirel worked as a project engineer and in 1954 was appointed Head of the Department of Dams. As of 1955, he served as Director General of the State Hydraulic Works (DSİ). In this capacity, Demirel was to supervise the construction of a multitude of dams, power plants, and irrigation facilities.