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Government & Politics

Cyprus has two separate governments for the Greek and the Turkish Cypriots. Each has its own elected political party, with its own Prime Minister. There are also many non government organizations that operate in Cyprus.

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is a democratic, secular republic based on the principles of social justice and the rule of law. The Constitution provides for a semi-presidential system with a president as the head of state, and a council of ministers composed of prime minister and 10 ministers. 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 Republic of Cyprus is recognized internationally and governs 60% of the island's geographical area; it is considered the legitimate government of the island. It has a presidential system of government established under a constitution with an executive composed of a Council of Ministers and a President (who serves a five-year term). The Council, since the withdrawal in 1963 of Turkish Cypriots from all government offices of the Republic of Cyprus, is composed of eleven Greek Cypriots appointed by the President. The office of Vice-President (reserved for a Turkish Cypriot) remains vacant.

The legislature, the House of Representatives, is composed of fifty-six Greek Cypriot members elected for a five-year term (the next election should be in 2006); twenty-four additional seats (allocated to the Turkish Cypriots) remain vacant.

There are foreign embassies of many countries located in Nicosia.