Partisan alignments among Turkish Cypriots seem to have been relatively stable.
Until the dominant Ulusal Birlik Partisi or National Unity Party (UBP)
split into two, giving birth to the Demokrat Partisi or Democrat Party
(DP), it dominated the right. It did lose electoral support over the years, but
has remained the single most important party. The DP had an haemorrhaging
effect on UBP in the 1993 elections from which it recovered in 1998. The DP
split from UBP is seen as part of a long term feud between Rauf Denktash and
Dervish Eroğlu. The DP was not established by Denktash, and Denktash himself
has not been a member of any party for some time now, but it is no coincidence
that his son, Serdar, emerged as one of the leaders of the splinter party.
Despite Denktash’s efforts, Eroğlu has proved to have staying power through the
years, although Denktash remains Ankara’s favorite son. This schism on the
Right, however, does not represent any ideological differences. In fact, Eroğlu
and the UBP who, unlike Denktash, are not directly accountable to Turkish
diplomacy tend to take the more hardline position on Cyprus.
On the Left the picture has been more varied. Support for the Cumhuriyetci Türk
Partisi or Republican Turkish Party (CTP) and the Toplumcu Kurtulush
Partisi or Communal Liberation Party (TKP) has oscillated over the
years. The combined vote for the CTP and TKP has never exceeded 40%. TKP were
initially the stronger party, but CTP later emerged as the more dominant,
although in the 1998 elections CTP suffered a reversal. Today, following the
2002 municipal election results, the CTP is seen as far more popular leading
into the December elections.
The opposition groups today believe that a true breakthrough may be in the
offing since they believe the electorate is no longer interested in voting for
the ‘status quo.’ The Annan plan has come to symbolize change.
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North Cyprus
