Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu has issued a congratulatory message to Natalie Süleyman who has been elected as the Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Victoria, Australia.

Ertuğruloğlu in his message welcomed the appointment of Süleyman, who is the daughter of a Turkish Cypriot family who settled in Australia.

“I am extremely happy with the election of Natalie Süleyman, the first muslim and Turkish member of the legislative assembly of Victoria, to the post of Deputy Speaker of Parliament,” he said.

The TRNC foreign minister said that Süleyman’s election was a source of pride for the Turkish Cypriot people.

“I would like to express my heartiest congratulations and best wishes to you in your new post,” he added.

Natalie Suleyman (born Nazlı Süleyman on 6 June 1974) is an Australian politician, representing the safe seat electorate of St Albans in the Victorian Legislative Assembly. She is a member of the Australian Labor Party.

She is the first person of Turkish Cypriot origin, as well as the first Muslim woman, to be elected to the Victorian Parliament.