Sucuoğlu forms coalition government in Turkish Cyprus
UBP Chairperson Faiz Sucuoğlu speaks to reporters after forming government in Lefkoşa, TRNC, April 25, 2022. (AA Photo)


A coalition government led by the National Unity Party (UBP) Chairperson and Prime Minister Faiz Sucuoğlu has been established in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) on Monday.

The Democrat Party (DP) and the Rebirth Party (YDP) are a part of the coalition government.

After presenting the Cabinet list to President Ersin Tatar, Sucuoğlu spoke to reporters.

Members of the 39th government of the TRNC include Fikri Ataoğlu as the deputy prime minister, and culture, youth and environment minister, Erhan Arıklı as the transportation minister, Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu as the foreign minister, Ünal Üstel as the interior minister and Kutlu Evren as the economy and energy minister.

Sucuoğlu received the mandate to form the government on April 22 and the former government also led by him resigned on April 20.

The coalition government of the UBP, Rebirth Party and Democrat Party was formed on Feb. 21 under the chairpersonship of Sucuoğlu and approved by Tatar.

The island of Cyprus has been mired in a decadeslong dispute between Turkish and Greek Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the United Nations to achieve a comprehensive settlement.

Ethnic attacks starting in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety.

In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aiming at Greece's annexation led to Turkey's military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence.

The TRNC was founded in 1983. It has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Turkey, Greece and the United Kingdom.

The Greek Cypriot administration entered the European Union in 2004, the same year Greek Cypriots thwarted the U.N.'s Annan plan to end the decadeslong dispute.