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This entry is about politics of Cyprus, especially the island of Cyprus and the Republic of Cyprus. For information on politics of Northern Cyprus, see the Politics Of Northern Cyprus . Cyprus is a divided island. Since 1974 , the Greek Cypriot-led government (The Republic Of Cyprus ) has controlled the south two thirds, and the Seperatist Turkish Cypriot Authorities the northern one-third. The Government of the Republic Of Cyprus has continued as the sole internationally-recognized authority on the island, though in practice its power extends only to the Greek Cypriot-controlled area. UNITED CYPRUS The 1960 Cypriot Constitution provided for a Presidential System of government with Independent Executive , Legislative , and Judicial branches, as well as a complex system of checks and balances including a weighted power-sharing ratio designed to protect the interests of the Turkish Cypriots . The executive, for example, was headed by a Greek Cypriot president and a Turkish Cypriot vice president, elected by their respective communities for five-year terms and each possessing a right of veto over certain types of Legislation and executive decisions. The House of Representatives was elected on the basis of separate voters' rolls, but since 1974 , the Turkish Cypriot community's seats in the House have been vacant. Originally, there were two Communal Chambers, but the Greek Cypriot Chamber was abolished in the 1960s and most of its functions transferred to the Greek Cypriot Ministry of Education. THE SECESSION OF NORTHERN CYPRUS In 1974 , following a coup sponsored by the Greek Military Junta Of 1967-1974 and executed by the Cypriot National Guard (with the intention of Annexing Cyprus to Greece ) and the Invasion Of Troops From Turkey (citing its authority as one of the three guarantor powers established by the Constitution), the Turkish Cypriots formally set up their own institutions with a popularly-elected Seperatist president and a Prime Minister, responsible to the National Assembly, exercising joint executive powers. In 1983 , the Turkish Cypriots declared an independent "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" (TRNC), which has never been Recognized By Any Country except Turkey . In 1985 , they adopted a constitution and held elections--an arrangement recognized only by Turkey. For information petaining to this, see Politics Of Northern Cyprus . POLITICAL CONDITIONS The division of Cyprus has remained an intractable political problem plaguing relations between Greece and Turkey , and drawing in NATO , of which both Greece and Turkey are members, and latterly the European Union , which has admitted Greece and Cyprus and which Turkey has been seeking to join for over twenty years. The most recent developments on the island have included the reopening of the Border between the two sides, and the failure of an attempt to reunify the island under the terms of a United Nations-sponsored Initiative guided by the UN Secretary-General , Kofi Annan . None of the Greek Cypriot parties has been able to elect a president by itself or dominate the 56-seat House of Representatives. The 165,000 Greek Cypriot Refugees are also a potent political force, along with the independent Orthodox Church Of Cyprus , which has some influence in temporal as well as ecclesiastical matters. The working of the Cypriot state was fraught with difficulty from the very early days after independence in 1960 , and intercommunal tension and occasionally violence was, regrettably, a feature of the first decade of Cypriot independence. In 1963, the Cypriot president, Makarios , proposed 13 amendments to the Constitution in order to solve intractable difficulties in filling government posts. Whether this was an attempt to foster increasing unity by dissolving legal boundaries between communities, or to effect domination of the Turkish Cypriots by the majority Greek Cypriots, remains controversial. Whatever Makarios's intentions, violence erupted between Greek and Turkish Cypriots in December 1963 and by the following year the United Nations agreed to undertake peacekeeping operations ( UNFICYP ). UN -sponsored negotiations to develop institutional arrangements acceptable to the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities began in 1968 ; several sets of negotiations and other initiatives followed. After the 1974 Invasion following a Greek Junta -based Coup attempt, Makarios secured international recognition of his Greek Cypriot government as the sole legal authority on Cyprus, which has proved to be a very significant strategic advantage for the Greek Cypriots in the decades since. Negotiations continued in the years after 1974 with varying degrees of regularity and success, but none resulted in a full reunification. On 15 November 1983 the Turkish Cypriot North declared independence and the formation of the Turkish Republic Of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), which has been Recognized only by Turkey . Both sides publicly call for the resolution of intercommunal differences and creation of a new Federal System (Greek Cypriot position) or Confederate System (Turkish Cypriot position) of government. Following the 1998 presidential election, Klerides tried to form a government of national unity, by including six ministers from Clerides' Democratic Rally party, two ministers from the EDEK ( Socialist ) party, three from the Democratic Party (who broke ranks with party leader Spyros Kyprianou ) and one from the United Democrats . However national unity government was not achieved because leftist wing party AKEL and Democratic Party rejected that offer and preferred to remain oppositioning parties. Under this administration negotiations continued in earnest in order to secure a deal before Cypriot admission to the European Union in 2004 , but Clerides was defeated in the 2003 Presidential Elections by relative hard-liner Tassos Papadopoulos , who saw out the negotiations on the Annan Plan and the Subsequent Referendum . While the plan was accepted on the Turkish Cypriot side of the Green Line, the Greek Cypriots rejected it by a large majority. Accordingly Cyprus remained divided on entry to the EU, and although some trade restrictions were lifted on the north to alleviate economic isolation for the Turkish Cypriots, further negotiations have not been a priority. There is now a focus on convincing Turkey to recognise the government of Cyprus, a requirement for Turkish admission advocated most strongly by Cyprus and France . CONSTITUTION The 16 August 1960 constitution envisioned power sharing between the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots . Efforts to ammends the constitution sparked the intercommunal strife in 1963. This constitution is still in force, though there is no Turkish Cypriot presence in the Cypriot government. EXECUTIVE BRANCH
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