The prime minister of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Faiz Sucuoğlu said on Monday that a coalition between the National Unity Party (UBP), of which he is the chair, the Democratic Party (DP) and Rebirth Party (YDP) is highly likely.
Following last month’s polls, Sucuoğlu had been assigned the task of forming a new government by TRNC President Ersin Tatar. Speaking to BRT news, Sucuoğlu said that the most probable prospect currently is a UBP-DP-YDP coalition with 29 deputies.
He said that he plans to announce the new government on Wednesday and present it to Tatar on Thursday or Friday.
Sucuoğlu added that he is evaluating the party manifesto and texts outlining the views of the Republican Turkish Party (CTP) that were provided to the UBP. He noted that the CTP text contained different views regarded Cyprus.
According to election officials, the UBP received 39.54% of votes in the Jan. 23 election, followed by the Republican Turkish Party (CTP) with 32.04%, the DP with 7.41%, the YDP with 6.39% and the People's Party (HP) with 6.68%.
The UBP won 24 seats in the 50-member Parliament, the CTP 18 seats, the DP and HP three seats, respectively, and the YDP two seats.
The island of Cyprus has been mired in a decadeslong dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish 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 aimed at Greece's annexation of the island led to Turkey’s military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. As a result, 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. plan to end the longstanding dispute.
While Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration support a federation on Cyprus, Turkey and the TRNC insist on a two-state solution reflecting the realities of the island.
