Leader Mehmet Ali Talat Political position Centre-left | Founded 1970 (1970) | |
Founder Ahmet Mithat Berberoğlu Headquarters North Nicosia, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Ideology Social democracy
United Cyprus
Cypriotism | ||
The Republican Turkish Party (Turkish: Cumhuriyetçi Türk Partisi, CTP) is a social-democratic political party in Northern Cyprus. The party was founded in 1970 by Ahmet Mithat Berberoğlu, a lawyer, in opposition to the leadership of Fazıl Küçük and Rauf Denktaş.
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On 30 June 2008, the Republican Turkish Party became a consultative member of the Socialist International (voted in by all members except the Movement for Social Democracy). It became a full member of the organization in 2014.
Policies and ideology
The CTP is a social democratic political party, positioned on the centre-left on the political spectrum. The party espoused a pro-Soviet stance during the Cold War, especially under the leadership of Özker Özgür. However, the party never described itself as explicitly communist. Under Özgür, the party held rapprochement meetings with the Greek leftist party of Cyprus, the Progressive Party of Working People (AKEL). Under Mehmet Ali Talat, the party shifted towards its current moderate leftist position.
On the Cyprus issue, the CTP traditionally favours a pragmatic approach, and supports the reunification of the island. During the presidency of former CTP leader Mehmet Ali Talat, the party led reunification talks with the Republic of Cyprus.
20th century
The Republican Turkish Party was established in 1970 by Ahmet Mithat Berberoğlu, in opposition to Rauf Denktaş, and later his National Unity Party (UBP). The CTP was further vocally opposed to Fazıl Küçük, who served as the first Vice President of the Republic of Cyprus. The CTP was led by Özker Özgür between 1976 and 1996; Özgür also served as Deputy prime minister in the aftermath of the 1993 legislative election.
21st century
Mehmet Ali Talat became party leader in 1996, taking over from Özgür. Under his leadership, the party lost 7 seats in the 1998 elections, becoming the fourth largest party in Northern Cyprus. However, in 2003, he led the party to victory, scoring over 35% of the vote, and taking 19 of the 50 seats in the Assembly of the Republic. The following year, Talat formed a government, and became prime minister on 13 January 2004. He stepped down in 2005, after winning that year's presidential election; he went on to serve a single term as President of Northern Cyprus, until 2010. During his presidency, Talat conducted weekly meetings with the Greek Cypriot president, Demetris Christofias. The two leaders discussed issues such as power sharing, armed forces, land ownership, and other problems that would arise in the event of reunification of the island.
Ferdi Sabit Soyer served as leader of the CTP for a certain period, and became prime minister in April 2005 after Talat's presidential victory, serving until May 2009. The CTP lost the 2009 legislative election to the National Unity Party, and entered into opposition in the Assembly of the Republic.
After winning the 2013 elections with 38% of the vote and 21 seats, the CTP chairman Özkan Yorgancıoğlu, in office since 2011, became prime minister of Northern Cyprus on 2 September 2013. His government also included the rightist Democratic Party (DP). In the 2015 presidential elections, CTP fielded Sibel Siber as their candidate. However, Siber took just under 23% of the vote, and was eliminated in the first round of voting. As a result, Özkan Yorgancıoğlu resigned as prime minister two months later; Ömer Kalyoncu, also of the CTP, then formed a grand coalition with the National Unity Party.
On 16 April 2016, the CTP government was ousted by a coalition led by Hüseyin Özgürgün, consisting of the National Unity Party and the Democrats, who together currently rule Northern Cyprus as a minority government.