The Communal Democracy Party (, TDP) is a

social-democratic Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, socia ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

in the

Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a '' de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the island of Cyprus. It is recognised only by Turkey, and its territory is considered by all o ...

. The party came into being in May 2007 as a merger of the

Peace and Democracy Movement The Peace and Democracy Movement () was a social democratic political party in the '' de facto'' Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. In the legislative A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws f ...

with the Communal Liberation Party. At the 2009

legislative A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers ...

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...

for the Assembly of the Republic in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, the TDP, in its first elections, won 2 out of 50 seats and 6.87% of the popular vote. In 2013, it took part in the interim Siber cabinet with three ministers. At the 2013 legislative

, the party increased its share of the vote to 7.41% and its number of MPs to 3. The TDP currently holds the mayorship of the Nicosia Turkish Municipality with Mehmet Harmancı. In November 2016, MP Mehmet Çakıcı, the founder of the party and its leader until 2013, resigned from the party, as did former MP Mustafa Emiroğulları and 70 other members including the former Minister of Agriculture Sami Dayıoğlu. Many of these members had originated from the Communal Liberation Party and they criticised what they saw as the nepotism by Cemal Özyiğit. They went on to form a new party under the same name as their political origin.

2015 Turkish Cypriot presidential campaign

On 13 March 2015,

Mustafa Akıncı Mustafa Akıncı (; born 28 December 1947) is a Turkish Cypriots, Turkish Cypriot politician who was the president of Northern Cyprus from April 2015 until October 2020. An architect by profession, Akıncı in 1976 became the first elected mayor ...

, a former member of the parliament from the party, completed his application to run for presidency, and was endorsed by the Communal Democracy Party. During his campaign, he put his voice forward regarding the ghost town Varosha, which is a very lively topic regarding the Cyprus problem. It was possible to see that Akıncı favoured a settling approach to solve this problem. Regarding Varosha, Akıncı stated that, "Instead of living side by side a corpse let Varosha become a lively city where people live, contractors from both communities do business together and young people can find jobs". Akıncı went on to the second round by receiving 26.94% of the votes in the first round, and was elected president in the second round with 60.5% of the votes. The TDP became a consultative member of the

Socialist International The Socialist International (SI) is a political international or worldwide organisation of political parties which seek to establish democratic socialism, consisting mostly of Social democracy, social democratic political parties and Labour mov ...

in November 2015. It was upgraded to full membership in 2017.

Party platform/ideology

The TDP's official party program identifies the party as a

social democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

, and leftist. On the

Cyprus Problem The Cyprus problem, also known as the Cyprus conflict, Cyprus issue, Cyprus dispute, or Cyprus question, is an ongoing dispute between the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot community in the north of the island of Cyprus, where troops of th ...

, TDP argues for a solution which leads to a United Cyprus by "developing the power of self-government, to establish peace and security in the bi-communal, bi-zonal, United Federal Republic of Cyprus, which will be established on the basis of political equality with the Greek Cypriot community."

Election results

References

External links

Official web site
{{Northern Cyprus political parties Cypriot nationalism Political parties in Northern Cyprus 2007 establishments in Northern Cyprus Political parties established in 2007

2015 Turkish Cypriot presidential campaign

Party platform/ideology

Election results

See also

References

External links