Serdar Denktash, the son of late Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash, announced the creation of a new political party, which he has named the ‘Tam Party’.

‘Tam’ is an acronym of the party’s full name, “Toplumsal Adalet ve Mucadele”, which means “social justice and fight” party in Turkish, while in and of itself, the word ‘tam’ means “complete”.

“As a necessity of our country’s current circumstances, we are nearing the end of our work on a new political party, which we have deemed appropriate to bring to life,” Denktash said.

The party’s logo is an olive tree, with Denktash saying that this logo “is not just visual”, but “a symbol with deep meaning, with which the people of this land can identify”.

Its colour is “Ecevit blue”, an off sky-blue shade named after late Turkish prime minister Bulent Ecevit, who served in post on four separate occasions between 1974 and 2002, including at the time of Turkey’s invasion of Cyprus.

The colour had become associated with Ecevit after he wore a shirt of that colour during the campaign for the 1973 Turkish general election.

“Ecevit blue holds a special place in the collective memory of Turkish Cypriots,” Denktash said, adding that the symbolism of Ecevit was “chosen as a symbol of hope, innovation, and social justice”.

He added that one of his party’s “fundamental goals” is to “eliminate corruption in politics”, and said, “we will fight against injustice and lawlessness”.

TAM party, politics, north, Serdar Denktash, Cyprus problem Cyprus talks

Denktash’s political career spans more than three decades, having first been elected to the north’s ‘parliament’ in 1990. He was then a founding member of the DP when it split from the UBP in 1992 and served as the DP’s leader between 1996 and 2019.

During that time, he served in various ‘ministerial’ roles but subsequently left the party when it entered into a ruling coalition with the UBP in December 2020.

“If my party, which I led for years, cannot protect its own honour, my duty is to protect my own honour,” he said, before deciding not to stand in the north’s ‘parliamentary’ elections in 2022.

His father is the only Turkish Cypriot leader since 1974 to win more than one term in office, with Mehmet Ali Talat, Dervish Eroglu, and Mustafa Akinci all since having served a single term in office before being voted out.

Last month, he had promised to “never vote for [incumbent Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin] Tatar” when asked about his plans for October’s Turkish Cypriot leadership election, adding that he feels “ashamed” every time Tatar speaks, and that Tatar is “an insult to Turkish Cypriot history”.

In election polling thus far, he is polling at around five per cent, with all polls pointing to a two-horse race between Tatar and CTP leader Tufan Erhurman. However, it is as yet unclear whether he will stand for election.

The next Turkish Cypriot legislative election is scheduled to take place at some point before February 2027. The next Turkish Cypriot local elections are scheduled to take place in December 2026.