Raif Muhtaroğlu was born on June 5, 1945, in a small village called Beşparmak in the Girne (Kyrenia) district. He completed his primary education in his home village, his secondary education in Girne, and his high school studies in Lefkoşa (Nicosia).

In 1966, he went to Turkey for his higher education and graduated in 1970 from the English Language Teaching (ELT) Department at the Institute of Education in Istanbul, qualifying as a language teacher.

In 1969, he received a scholarship from BP (British Petroleum) and attended a summer course in Cambridge, U.K. Muhtaroğlu began his teaching career in 1970 at Cumhuriyet Secondary School in Geçitkale, North Cyprus. In 1974, he took part in a summer course at Reading University, U.K., organized by the British Council.

In 1976, he was awarded another scholarship from the British Council and attended a one- year Advanced Diploma program in English Language Teaching at the University of Exeter, U.K., where he completed a thesis titled Turkish Education in Cyprus and the Teaching of Languages. He served as an Assistant Director in secondary education for 10 years. In 1989, he left this position to begin teaching at the English Preparatory School at Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU) in Famagusta (Magosa), North Cyprus. Alongside his teaching duties, he led courses at various levels as a Course Leader and coordinated the Internship Program between the ELT Department and the English Preparatory School.

In 1996, he began his M.A. studies and completed them in 1997, writing his thesis on The Teaching of Spoken English in High Schools in North Cyprus. In 2000, he enrolled in a one-year Certificate in Educational Management (C.E.M.) program at EMU, where he prepared a thesis titled Training Language Teachers in Primary Schools in North Cyprus.

In 2000 and 2001, he participated in the 2nd and 3rd International ELT Conferences at EMU, where he conducted two workshops titled Help Learners Do the Talking and How Much Does Reading Help?