KUZEY KIBRIS
Officially: Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti.
English: Northern (Turkish) Cyprus.
Seat of government: Lefkoşa.
Status: Democratic.
Structure: The president is directly elected and heads the government; parliament is elected in geographical constituencies modified by proportional representation, and chooses the prime minister.
Governing parties: Ulusal Birlik Partisi; Demokrat Parti.
Heads of government: Mustafa Akıncı, TDP, president (since 2015); Hüseyin Özgürgün, UBP, prime minister (since 2016).
Parliamentary parties: Cumhuriyetçi Türk Partisi, led by Mehmet Ali Talat; Ulusal Birlik Partisi, led by Özgürgün; Demokrat Parti, led by Serdar Denktaş; Toplumcu Demokrasi Partisi, led by Mehmet Çakıcı.
Assessment: Independent since 1974, but not recognized. A 2004 referendum to reunify with Κύπρος « Kupros » passed here, but not in Κύπρος « Kupros ». The parliamentary elections in 2003 and 2005 yielded an even split between moderate, pro-European parties (the CTP and the Barış ve Demokrasi Hareketi, a precursor to the TDP) and nationalist parties (the UBP and the DP); the CTP led government under that result, with the DP as coalition partner, eventually replaced by the emergent Özgürlük ve Reform Partisi. In 2005, Talat (2005-10) of the CTP succeeded long-time leader Rauf Denktaş (1973-2005) of the UBP, father of Serdar. A 2009 parliamentary election yielded a significant popular plurality for the UBP, and a slight majority of seats. In a 2010 presidential election, Derviş Eroğlu of the UBP defeated Talat in the first round, making negotiations for unification with Κύπρος « Kupros » much more difficult. In 2013 parliamentary elections, nationalists secured a narrow majority of seats, but the CTP formed a coalition with the DP; Özkan Yorgancıoğlu (2013-5) of CTP became prime minister, later replaced by Ömer Kalyoncu (2015-6), also of the CTP. In 2015, Eroğlu was defeated for reelection in a runoff by Mustafa Akıncı, a defeat as well for the nationalist parties (UBP and DP) who had supported Eroğlu. The UBP formed a new coalition in 2016 with the DP.
FH: 2-2, free.
Updated: 2018 January 7.
 

O.T. FORD