Northern Cyprus

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Turkish Republic of Northern CyprusKuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti
Flag Coat of arms of Northern Cyprus Coat of arms
Anthem: İstiklâl Marşı (Turkish) Independence March

Capital	Nicosia
Official languages	Turkish
Government	Representative democratic republic

• President	Mehmet Ali Talat
• Prime Minister	Ferdi Sabit Soyer

Sovereignty (de facto) from Cyprus

• Proclaimed	November 15 1983
• Recognition	By Turkey
• Independence	from Cyprus
• Declared	November 15 1983

Area
• Total	3,355 km (1,295 sq mi) (not ranked)
• Water (%)	2.7
Population
• 2006 census	264,172
• Density	78/km (202.0/sq mi) (not ranked)
GDP (PPP)	2005 estimate
• Total	$2 billion (not ranked)
• Per capita	$16,900 (2004) (not ranked)
Currency	New Turkish Lira (TRY)
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Calling code	90
Internet TLD	.nc.tr
Freedomhouse.org Country Report Template:PDFlink Nüfus ve Konut Sayimi.

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) (Template:Lang-tr, KKTC), commonly called Northern Cyprus, is a de facto independent republic, located in the north of Cyprus. The TRNC declared its independence in 1983, nine years after a Greek Cypriot coup attempting to annex the island to Greece triggered a Turkish invasion of Cyprus. It has received diplomatic recognition only from Turkey, on which it is dependent for economic, political and military support. The rest of the international community, including the United Nations and European Union, recognise the sovereignty of the Republic of Cyprus over the whole island. The TRNC and Turkey, citing the constitutional breakdown of 1963, state the Republic of Cyprus no longer carries legitimate authority.

The Turkish Army maintains a large force in the TRNC, which the Republic of Cyprus regards as an illegal occupation force; its presence has also been denounced in several United Nations Security Council resolutions.. Attempts to reach a solution to the dispute have so far been unsuccessful. In 2004 a UN backed plan to reunite the island was accepted by Turkish Cypriots in a referendum, but rejected by Greek Cypriots.

The TRNC extends from the tip of the Karpass Peninsula (Cape Apostolos Andreas) in the northeast, westward to Morphou Bay and Cape Kormakitis (the Kokkina/Erenköy exclave marks the westernmost extent of the TRNC), and southward to the village of Louroujina/Akıncılar. The no man's land or buffer zone stretching between the two areas is under the control of the United Nations.

κυπρος νησος ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ

Military

Main article: Military of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus has an indigeneous 5,000-man Turkish Cypriot Security Force (TCSF), which is primarily made up of conscripted Turkish Cypriot males between the ages of 18 and 40. There is also an additional reserve force consisting of about 11,000 first-line, 10,000 second-line and 5,000 third-line troops conscripted up to the age of 50. The TCSF is lightly armed and heavily dependent on its mainland Turkish allies, from which it draws much of its officer corps. It is led by a Brigadier General drawn from the Turkish Army. It acts essentially as a gendarmerie with a self-proclaimed mission of protecting the border of the TRNC from Greek Cypriot incursions and maintaining internal security within the TRNC.

In addition, the mainland Turkish Armed Forces maintain a Cyprus Turkish Peace Force (CTPF), regarded by the United Nations as an illegal occupation force, consisting of around 30-40,000 troops drawn from the 9th Turkish Army Corps and comprising two divisions, the 28th and 39th. It is equipped with a substantial number of United States-made M48 Patton main battle tanks and artillery weapons. The Turkish Air Force, Turkish Navy and Turkish Coast Guard also have a presence in Northern Cyprus. Although formally part of Turkish 4th Army, headquartered in İzmir, the sensitivities of the Cyprus situation means that the commander of the CTPF also reports directly to the Turkish General Staff in Ankara. The CTPF is deployed principally along the Green Line and in locations where hostile amphibious landings might take place.

The presence of the mainland Turkish military in Cyprus is highly controversial, having been denounced in several United Nations Security Council resolutions, though the failed Annan Plan of 2004 allowed for some troops to remain.

κυπρος νησος ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ

Geography and climate

The climate of the island is of an extreme Mediterranean type with very hot dry summers and relatively cold winters. Most of the rainfall is concentrated between December and January.

The climate of the coastal parts is less extreme than farther inland, due to the fact that the effect of the sea on atmospheric humidities is always present there. The sea temperature itself never falls below 16°C. (January and February); in August it can rise to 28 °C.

Spring and autumn are short, typified by changeable weather, with occasional heavy storms battering the coast in spring and a westerly wind, called "meltem" carrying the influence of Atlantic depressions to this far eastern end of the Mediterranean.

From mid-May to mid-September the sun shines on a daily average of around 11 hours. Temperatures can reach 40°C. On the Mesaoria Plain, although lower on the coasts, with a north-westerly breeze called "Poyraz" prevailing. The skies are cloudless with a low humidity, 40 - 60 per cent, thus the high temperatures are easier to bear. The hot, dry, dust-laden sirocco wind blowing from Africa also finds its way to the island.

Short-lived stormy conditions resulting from fairly frequent small depressions prevail throughout the winter, with 60 per cent of rain falling between December and February. The Northern Range receives around 550 mm of rain per year, whereas the Mesaoria Plain receives only around 300-400 mm.

Frost and snow are almost unknown in Northern Cyprus, although night temperatures can fall to very low levels in winter.

The chief rain-bearing air currents reach the island from the south-west, so that precipitation and atmospheric humidity is at its greatest on the western and south-western sides of the Southern Range. Eastwards, precipition and humidity are reduced by the partial rain-shadow effect of the Southern Range, a similar effect is also caused by the Northern Range which cut off the humidity associated with proximity to the sea from much of the northern Mesaoria Plain. Eastwards of the Northern Range, towards the bays of the Karpaz Peninsula, where the land narrows and the effect of sea influence increases accordingly, humidity increases progressively towards the end of the peninsula.

Most of the rivers are simply winter torrents, only flowing after heavy rain, the rivers running out of the Northern and Southern Ranges rarely flowing all the year round.

During the wet winter months Cyprus is a green island. However, by the time June arrives the landscape at the lower levels assumes the brown, parched aspect which characterises its summer face. The forests and the vineyards in the mountains, plus the stips of irrigated vegatation in the valleys remain green.

Economy

Main article: Economy of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus

The Lala Mustafa Pasha Mosque in Famagusta (Gazimağusa). Formerly Τhe Saint Nicolas Cathedral prior to its conversion in 1571. Tourism remains an important source of revenue for Northern Cyprus.

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

Because of its status and the embargo, the TRNC is heavily dependent on Turkish military and economic support. It uses the New Turkish Lira as its currency; this used to link its economic status to the vagaries of the Turkish economy . All TRNC exports and imports have to take place via Turkey, unless they are produced locally, from materials sourced in the area (or imported via one of the island's recognised ports) when they may be exported via one of the legal ports.

The continuing Cyprus problem adversely affects the economic development of the TRNC. The Republic of Cyprus, as the internationally recognised authority, has declared airports and ports in the area not under its effective control, closed. All U.N. Member countries and E.U. member countries respect the closure of those ports and airports according to the declaration of the Republic of Cyprus. 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%. 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 grew to 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 developed in recent years, it is still dependent on monetary transfers from the Turkish government. Under the 2003-06 economic protocol, Ankara plans to provide around $550 million to the TRNC.

The number of tourists visiting Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus during January-August 2003 was 286,901.

The Turkish Cypriot economy has also benefited from an abundance of universities including the Eastern Mediterranean University, Near East University, Girne American University and Middle East Technical University, European University of Lefke and Cyprus International University

Communications and transport

International telephone calls are routed via a Turkish dialling code: +90 392, as the TRNC has neither its own contry code, nor official ITU prefix. Similarly, the TRNC has no top level domain of its own, and is under the Turkish second-level domain .nc.tr, while mail must be addressed 'via Mersin 10, TURKEY' as the Universal Postal Union does not recognise the TRNC as a separate entity. Amateur radio operators sometimes use callsigns beginning with "1B", but these have no standing for awards or other operating credit.

Direct flights to Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus are restricted as part of the embargoe on Turkish Cypriot ports. The airports of Geçitkale and Ercan are only recognised as legal ports of entry by Turkey and Azerbaijan. In addition, the TRNC's sea ports in Famagusta and Kyrenia had been declared closed to all shipping by the Republic of Cyprus since 1974. Since the opening of the Green Line, Turkish Cypriot residents are allowed to trade through Greek Cypriot ports.

Naturalized TRNC citizens or foreigners carrying a passport stamped by the TRNC authorities may be refused entry by the Republic of Cyprus or Greece, although after the accession of the Republic of Cyprus to the EU such restrictions have been eased following confidence-building measures between Athens and Ankara and the partial opening of the UN controlled line by the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus authorities. The Republic of Cyprus also allows passage across the Green Line from the part of Nicosia that it controls (as well as a few other selected crossing points), since the TRNC does not leave entry stamps in the passport for such visits. Since May 2004, some tourists have taken to flying to the Republic of Cyprus directly and crossing the green line to holiday in the TRNC.

κυπρος νησος ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ κυπρος νησος ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ

References

Antiwar.com. In Praise of 'Virtual States', Leon Hadar, November 16, 2005
Carter Johnson, University of Maryland. Sovereignty or Demography? Reconsidering the Evidence on Partition in Ethnic Civil Wars, 2005
Emerson, Michael (2004). The Wider Europe Matrix. CPSE. ISBN 9290794690.
UN Security Council resolutions 353(1974), 357(1974), 358(1974), 359(1974), 360(1974), 365(1974)
^ "Cyprus." Jane's Sentinel: Eastern Mediterranean, issue 22, 2007.
UN Security Council resolutions 353(1974), 357(1974), 358(1974), 359(1974), 360(1974), 365(1974)
^ University of Oxford, European Studies Centre, Workshop on Cyprus 10-11 March 2006
Tourism statistics for the period January-August 2003: North Cyprus Ministry of Economy and Tourism
Visa requirements for Cyprus

Misplaced Pages

Military

Geography and climate

Economy

Communications and transport

See also

References

External links

Official links

Other links