North Cyprus Politics
As you are probably aware the Cyprus political map shows the island divided in two since 1974 with the southern two thirds being governed by the Greek Cypriots and the northern third being controlled by the Turkish Cypriots. The Greek side is known as the Republic of Cyprus and the northern Turkish controlled part is called the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).
Current Cyprus political situation
Although the two sides have been separated for over 34 years on the Cyprus political map, they have never been closer to being reunited than they are today.
There are a number of reasons for this change in the Cyprus political situation. The main one is the ousting of the hard-line Greek Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos in February 2008 and the subsequent election of the current Greek Cypriot leader Demetris Christofias. The Greek Cypriot population’s rejection of Papadopoulos has bought renewed hope for an end to the island’s division. Papadopoulos was always seen as a barrier to Cyprus reunification talks and now that he is no longer in power the barrier has been lifted and sets the foundations for a change in the political map of Cyprus.
The new Greek Cypriot President is a moderate and is in favour of reunification which has given the process a huge boost. Not only is Mr. Christofias in favour of reunification but he is also on very friendly terms with the North Cyprus leader Mehmet Ali Talat which has enabled negotiations to be conducted in a very civilised and polite manner.
Kick start for Cyprus politics
Preparatory talks began between the two sides in March 2008, just weeks after the elections, with the two leaders agreeing the opening of the historic Ledra Street crossing point in Nicosia as a sign of good will as the street had been closed for nearly half a century. They also agreed to begin Cyprus reunification talks in full in the summer and hailed a ‘new era’ in their relations and indeed a new era for politics in Cyprus.
After the opening of Ledra Street Mr. Talat became the first TRNC leader to cross over to the south and more recently President Christofias became the first Greek Cypriot leader to visit the TRNC to pay his respects at the funeral of a respected Turkish Cypriot peace campaigner.
Full-fledged Cyprus reunification talks began on September 3rd 2008 and the two leaders have since made good progress on the issues of governance and power sharing and have both committed to a partnership that will compromise a federal government with a single international identity for the benefit of Cyprus politics.
United Nations Special Envoy to Cyprus Alexander Downer said that he believes the Greek and Turkish leaders will broker a reunification deal no matter how long it takes. He also said he is satisfied with pace of the talks and the progress made so far.
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