Suat İrfan Günsel is a Turkish Cypriot property developer, businessman and founder and 100% owner of Cyprus's private Near East University. In 2011, Forbes ranked him as the second richest person in Cyprus and the 1,140th richest person in the world with a net worth of $2 billion.
Suat Günsel
Turkish Cypriots or Cypriot Turks are ethnic Turks originating from Cyprus. Turkish Cypriots are mainly Sunni Muslims. Following the Ottoman conquest of the island in 1571, about 30,000 Turkish settlers were given land once they arrived in Cyprus. Additionally, many of the island's local Christians converted to Islam during the early years of Ottoman rule. Nonetheless, the influx of mainly Muslim settlers to Cyprus continued intermittently until the end of the Ottoman period. Today, while Northern Cyprus is home to a significant part of the Turkish Cypriot population, the majority of Turkish Cypriots live abroad, forming the Turkish Cypriot diaspora. This diaspora came into existence after the Ottoman Empire transferred the control of the island to the British Empire, as many Turkish Cypriots emigrated primarily to Turkey and the United Kingdom for political and economic reasons.
The Ottoman Turks built Büyük Han in 1572. Today it has become a thriving center of Turkish Cypriot culture.
The Bekir Pasha Aqueduct was built by the Ottoman governor Ebubekir Pasha in 1747. It is considered to be the most prominent water supply ever built in Cyprus.
A Cypriot woman in traditional Turkish fashion, 1878
Mehmet Remzi Okan with his wife and children in 1919 during the Turkish War of Independence. The family were Turkish Cypriots who owned the newspaper Söz Gazetesi.
