The Republic of Cyprus is a unitary presidential representative republic, whereby the President of Cyprus is both head of state and head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the parliament. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
Mehmet Ali Talat is a Turkish Cypriot politician who served as the President of Northern Cyprus from 2005 to 2010. Talat is the leader of the social democratic Republican Turkish Party, having previously held this position between 1996 and 2005. He became prime minister in 2004, and subsequently won the presidential election held on 17 April 2005. Talat was inaugurated on 25 April 2005, succeeding retiring leader Rauf Denktaş. He lost the presidential election of 2010 and was replaced by Derviş Eroğlu as President.
The Republican Turkish Party is a social-democratic political party in Northern Cyprus. The party was founded in 1970 by Ahmet Mithat Berberoğlu, a lawyer, in opposition to the leadership of Fazıl Küçük and Rauf Denktaş.
Derviş Eroğlu is a Turkish Cypriot politician, who served as the third President of Northern Cyprus. Previously, he was Prime Minister and twice-leader of the National Unity Party. He served a term of nearly 17 years, by this he was the longest served Prime minister of the country. He became president on 23 April 2010, serving until 30 April 2015.
The National Unity Party is a national-conservative political party in Northern Cyprus. It was founded by Rauf Denktaş on 11 October 1975. The party was in power from its creation until the 2003 elections with the exception of the period from 1994–1996.
Elections in Northern Cyprus are organized to elect governments, presidents and representatives of local administrative bodies in Northern Cyprus, known as the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
Politics of Northern Cyprus takes place in a framework of a semi-presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the president is head of state and the prime minister is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Assembly of the Republic. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
The Assembly of the Republic is the parliament of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. It has 50 members, elected for a five-year term by mitigated proportional representation. A party must cross the electoral threshold to be awarded any seats. The parliament is composed of 50 MPs, chosen from six electoral districts, which are coterminous with the districts of Northern Cyprus: Lefkoşa, Gazimağusa, Girne, Güzelyurt, Lefke and İskele.
Northern Cyprus is recognised only by Turkey, a country which facilitates many of its contacts with the international community. After it was occupied by Turkey, Northern Cyprus' relations with the rest of the world were further complicated by a series of United Nations resolutions which declared its independence legally invalid. A 2004 UN Referendum on settling the Cyprus dispute was accepted by the Turkish Cypriots but rejected by the Greek Cypriots. After that, the European Union declared its intentions to assist in reducing the economic isolation of Northern Cyprus and began giving aid to the territory. However, due to pressure from Greece and the Republic of Cyprus, this aid coming from EU funds cannot be used on Greek Cypriot land and property nor on public bodies. As a result, these funds can be used only on 29 percent of people on the island of Cyprus.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in Northern Cyprus face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Same-sex sexual activity has been legal in Northern Cyprus since 7 February 2014. Previous laws allowed three years prison sentences, according to articles 171 and 173 of its criminal code. Female homosexuality was not criminalised. Arrests for homosexuality have occurred as recently as 2011.
İrsen Küçük was a Turkish Cypriot politician who was Prime Minister of Northern Cyprus. He is the nephew of Republic of Cyprus's first Vice-President Dr. Fazıl Küçük.
Presidential elections were held in Northern Cyprus in April 2015. In the first round, held on 19 April 2015, the incumbent president independent candidate Derviş Eroğlu and independent candidate Mustafa Akıncı progressed to the second round. The second round took place on 26 April 2015 and was won by Akıncı.
Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu is a Turkish Cypriot politician. He served as a member of the Assembly of the Republic representing the Lefkoşa District between 1998 and 2018. During this time, he was a member of the National Unity Party (UBP) between 1998 and 2010, serving as the leader of the party between 2006 and 2008. He returned to the UBP in 2012 and remained its representative until the end of his tenure as an MP. He served in different ministerial positions, including a five-year tenure as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Defense between 1998 and 2004.
Mustafa Akıncı is a Turkish Cypriot politician who was the President of Northern Cyprus from April 2015 until October 2020.
Özdil Nami is a Turkish Cypriot politician. He has served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Northern Cyprus and the Turkish Cypriot Special Representative in the negotiations to solve the Cyprus dispute. He currently serves as the Minister of Economy and Energy of Northern Cyprus.
Hasan Taçoy is a Turkish Cypriot politician who served as the Minister of Public Works and Transport between 2009 and 2010 and between 2014 and 2015.
Parliamentary elections were held in Northern Cyprus on 7 January 2018 to elect the 50 members of the Assembly of the Republic for a five-year term. Going into the elections, the government was led by Prime Minister Hüseyin Özgürgün, who had served since 16 April 2016, leading a coalition consisting of the National Unity Party and the Democratic Party.
Tufan Erhürman is a Turkish Cypriot academic, lawyer, diplomat and a former Prime Minister of Northern Cyprus. A scholar in public law by profession, he served in the negotiations to solve the Cyprus dispute between 2008 and 2010. He previously worked for the Ministry of Justice of Turkey between 1999 and 2004 and worked for the establishment of the position of ombudsman in Turkey. He is the current leader of Republican Turkish Party. He held the office of Prime Minister beginning January 2018 as the leader of a four-party coalition. The coalition government resigned on 9 May 2019, with Erhürman continuing as Prime Minister until the office was taken over by Ersin Tatar on 22 May 2019.
Ersin Tatar is a Turkish Cypriot politician, and the President of Northern Cyprus. He became the Prime Minister of Northern Cyprus following the collapse of the coalition government of Tufan Erhürman in May 2019 and served until his own election as President. He is also the leader of the National Unity Party (UBP) and served as Leader of the Opposition.
Presidential elections were held in Northern Cyprus on 11 October 2020 alongside a constitutional referendum, with a run-off held on 18 October 2020. They were originally scheduled to take place on 26 April 2020, but were postponed in March 2020 for six months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. No candidate won a majority of votes in the first round.
