Cyprus POLITICS IN THE "TURKISH REPUBLIC OF NORTHERN CYPRUS"
"Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" Office of the Prime
Minister, Nicosia
Courtesy Office of the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus,"
Washington
The Turkish Cypriot government gradually evolved after
1963. In
1975 and again in 1983, major changes were made to develop
a
national identity and the institutions of statehood,
despite the
government's dependence on Turkey and lack of recognition
by the
world community.
The political evolution of the Turkish Cypriot
government
complicated the search for a settlement. Greek Cypriots
held that
the institutional changes since 1974 were illegitimate and
artificial and could be reversed for the sake of a
settlement.
Although Turkish Cypriots maintained that these changes
need not
impede creation of a federal republic and that some of
them could
be nullified if replaced by acceptable alternatives, it
was
increasingly clear that the new institutions were becoming
rooted
in Turkish Cypriot society. In addition, the de facto
autonomy that
Turkish Cypriots had become accustomed to would be
difficult to
dismantle.
Thus, the situation on the ground in the north shaped
and
narrowed the possible outcomes in the talks. Although
Turkish
Cypriot politics were the politics of a small and fragile
entity
dependent on an outside patron, the prospects for
fundamental
change in the government of Cyprus may depend more on the
community
in the north than on the better known and more politically
stable
Greek Cypriot society.
Data as of January 1991
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