New coalition government formed in Northern Cyprus

LEFKOSA, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus

A new Northern Cypriot coalition government under Prime Minister Faiz Sucuoglu was approved on Monday.

The coalition government of the National Unity Party (UBP), Rebirth Party (YDP), and Democrat Party (DP) was formed under the chairmanship of Sucuoglu, head of the UBP, and approved by Turkish Cypriot President Ersin Tatar.

The new Cabinet is as follows:

- Prime Minister: Faiz Sucuoglu

- Economy and Energy Minister: Kutlu Evren

- Tourism and Environment Minister: Fikri Ataoglu

- Foreign Minister: Hasan Tacoy

- Finance Minister: Sunat Atun

- Interior Minister: Unal Ustel

- Public Works and Transportation Minister: Erhan Arikli

- Education and Culture Minister: Nazim Cavusoglu

- Agriculture and Natural Resources Minister: Dursun Oguz

- Health Minister: Ali Pilli

- Labor and Social Security Minister: Oguzhan Hasipoglu

Stressing the importance of stability, Sucuoglu emphasized that the new government is set to last for a long time.

According to election officials, in the Jan. 23 election the UBP got 39.54% of the votes, followed by the Republican Turkish Party (CTP) with 32.04%, DP with 7.41%, YDP with 6.39%, and People's Party (HP) with 6.68%.

With the results, the UBP gets 24 seats in the 50-member parliament, and the CTP 18 seats, DP and HP three seats apiece, and YDP two seats.

- Who is Faiz Sucuoglu?

Sucuoglu was elected UBP chairman last October.

Sucuoglu was born on Aug. 27, 1961 in Baf (Paphos), Southern Cyprus. After graduating from Lefkosa Turkish High School in the Cypriot capital, he completed his medical education, which he started in Germany with a scholarship, in Turkiye at Istanbul University’s Capa Medical School.

He took part in various NGOs. He was elected Lefkosa deputy from the UBP in the July 2013 early elections. He is married and speaks both English and German.

Last Oct. 13, Ersan Saner, then-Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) prime minister, submitted his resignation to the president.

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

Ethnic attacks starting in the 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 Turkiye'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 Turkiye, Greece, and the UK.

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