Northern Cyprus
Northern Cyprus ( tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs), officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC; tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti, ''KKTC''), is a ''de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the Geography of Cyprus, isl ...
on 19 April 2009, a year earlier than necessary. The early election was decided upon by the ruling
Republican Turkish Party
The Republican Turkish Party ( tr, Cumhuriyetçi Türk Partisi, CTP) is a social democracy, social-democratic List of political parties in Northern Cyprus, political party in Northern Cyprus. The party was founded in 1970 by Ahmet Mithat Berberoğ ...
. Winning the largest portion of the vote, the
National Unity Party The National Unity Party, National United Party, Party of National Unity or National Unity Front may refer to:
* National United Party of Afghanistan (founded 2003)
* National Unity Party (Albania)
* National United Party (Armenia), defunct
* Natio ...
won the election, and the party chairman,
Derviş Eroğlu
Derviş Eroğlu (born 7 March 1938) is a Turkish Cypriot politician, who served as the president of Northern Cyprus from 2010
171,000 Cypriots were eligible to vote. It has been claimed that of these as many as 100,000 were originally Turkish immigrants.
Results
The
National Unity Party The National Unity Party, National United Party, Party of National Unity or National Unity Front may refer to:
* National United Party of Afghanistan (founded 2003)
* National Unity Party (Albania)
* National United Party (Armenia), defunct
* Natio ...
(UBP) won the election with 44% of the vote. The Republican Turkish Party (CTP) received 29% of the vote.
Analysis
The UBP's strong anti-unification position means that the results are likely to halt UN efforts to reunify Cyprus. However, the UBP stated after its election victory that it wanted the talks to continue. The UBP remains opposed to a federalist solution, however, and prefers a two-state solution; while analysts have stated that the UBP is unlikely to directly work against the talks, it might shore up resentment and opposition if the talks drag on too long or if it considers the outcome to be unfavourable.
Reactions
Derviş Eroğlu
Derviş Eroğlu (born 7 March 1938) is a Turkish Cypriot politician, who served as the president of Northern Cyprus from 2010 In addition, many Turkish Cypriots celebrated the UBP victory. On the other hand, Greek news agency
ANA-MPA
The Athens-Macedonian News Agency (AMNA) ( el, Αθηναϊκό-Μακεδονικό Πρακτορείο Ειδήσεων, ΑΜΠΕ) is a Greece-based news agency. It is a public entity anonymous company. It was founded in 2008 as the Athens Ne ...
reported "despair has gripped the Republic of Cyprus" following the release of early election results.
Some analysts say that the new parliament could create difficulties for
Mehmet Ali Talat
Mehmet Ali Talat (born 6 July 1952) is a Turkish Cypriot politician who served as the president of Northern Cyprus from 2005 to 2010. Talat was the leader of the social democratic Republican Turkish Party ( tr, Cumhuriyetçi Türk Partisi, CTP) ...
, the peace negotiator for the Turkish Cypriots. With Talat's party gaining slightly fewer seats, "... it is obviously going to limit Talat's ability to act in a lot of ways, you know parliament is going to have a much greater say in all of this and really can tie his hands."
References
{{Northern Cyprus elections
Northern Cyprus
Northern Cyprus ( tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs), officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC; tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti, ''KKTC''), is a ''de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the Geography of Cyprus, isl ...
Northern Cyprus
Northern Cyprus ( tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs), officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC; tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti, ''KKTC''), is a ''de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the Geography of Cyprus, isl ...