New coalition gov't in Turkish Cyprus wins vote of confidence

LEFKOŞA

Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (AA) - The new coalition government formed in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) won the vote of confidence on Nov. 13. 

The Assembly of the Republic held an extraordinary meeting to vote for the coalition of National Unity Party (UBP) and the Democrat Party (DP).

As many as 27 lawmakers voted for the coalition, while 19 others voted against it. Three deputies did not participate in the voting.

Prime Minister Faiz Sucuoğlu said they will work efficiently until early elections, which are expected in the first quarter of next year.

On Oct. 13, Ersan Saner, the then prime minister of the TRNC, stepped down. His coalition government was formed in December, 2020, and is said to have resigned over quorum issues, developments within the coalition and certain problems in the government.

Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the U.N. to achieve a comprehensive settlement.

Ethnic attacks starting in 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 U.K.

The Greek Cypriot administration entered the EU in 2004, the same year that Greek Cypriots thwarted the UN's Annan plan to end the decades-long dispute.