North Cyprus Political organization

Politics of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus takes place in a framework of a semi-presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President is head of state and the Prime Minister head of governmentand of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Assembly of the Republic. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. Legislative power is vested in the Legislative Assembly, composed of 50 deputies elected by universal suffrage for a period of five years. Judicial power is exercised through independent courts.

The president is elected for a five-year term. The current president is Mehmet Ali Talat who won the presidential elections on April 17, 2005. The legislature is the Assembly of the Republic, which has 50 members elected by proportional representation from five electoral districts.

The economy of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is dominated by the services sector including the public sector, trade, construction, tourism and education, with smaller agriculture and light manufacturing sectors. The economy operates on a free-market basis.

The continuing Cyprus problem adversely affects the economic development of the TRNC. The Turkish community argues that the Republic of Cyprus has used its international standing to handicap economic relations between TRNC and the rest of the world.

Despite the constraints imposed by its lack of international recognition, the TRNC economy turned in an impressive performance in the last few years. The GDP growth rates of the TRNC economy in 2001-2005 have been 5.4%, 6.9%, 11.4%, 15.4% and 10.6% against 4.1%, 2.1%, 1.9%, 3.8% and 3.9% in the Republic of Cyprus. This growth has been buoyed by the relative stability of the Turkish Lira and a boom in the education and construction sectors.

Studies by the World Bank show that the per capita GDP in TRNC was 76% of the per capita GDP in the Republic of Cyprus in PPP-adjusted terms in 2004. (USD 22,300 for the Republic of Cyprus and USD 16,900 for the TRNC).

Although the TRNC economy has recovered in recent years, it is still dependent on monetary transfers from the Turkish government. Under the 2003-06 economic protocol, Ankara plans to provided around $550 million to the TRNC. The number of tourists visiting Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus during January-August 2006 was 380,000.

January 1	New Year's Day
February 1 - 4	Kurban Bayram (Feast of the Sacrifice)
April 23	Turkish National Sovereignty and Children's Day
May 1	Labour Day
May 19	Atatürk Commemoration and Youth & Sports Day
July 20	Turkish Intervention, Peace and Freedom Day
August 1	date of T.M.T (Social Resistance Day)
August 30	Zafer Bayram (Victory Day)
October 29	Turkish Republic Day
November 15	Republic Day of TRNC
November 3	Ramazan (End of Ramadan) or Seker Bayram

Country	Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC)
Proclaimed	November 15, 1983
Capital (and largest city)	Nicosia
Official language	Turkish
Government	Republic
President	Mehmet Ali Talat
Area	3,355 km²
Population	264,172
Density	78/km²
GDP Total	$2 billion
GDP per capita (2006)	$16,900
Currency	New Turkish Lira (YTL)
Time zone	EET (+2)
Number of tourists (2006)	380,000
Electricity	240V/50Hz (UK plug)
Calling code	+90 392