The Turkish Cypriots' progress to parliamentary democracy has not been as easy.

First they had to build a new state. In 1975 the "Turkish Federated State of Cyprus" was proclaimed.

In 1983, by means of a unilateral declaration of independence, Turkish Cypriots create the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" ("TRNC"), but by the early 1990s, only Turkey will have recognized it as a nation.

Rauf Denktash, who has been the political leader of the Turkish Cypriot community since the 1970s, had been elected president of the "TRNC."

A number of political parties are active in the area occupied by the "TRNC."

They include both left- and right-wing parties, which both support and oppos the settlement of mainland Turks on the island and the politics of partition.

The largest party, the National Unity Party (Ulusal Birlik Partisi—UBP), had been founded and is controlled by Denktash.

The UBP supports a resolutely separatist stance.

The second party of the "TRNC," the Communal Liberation Party (Toplumcu Kurtulush Partisi—TKP) advocates closer relations with the Greek Cypriot community.

The left-wing Republican Turkish Party (Cumhuriyetci Turk Partisi—CTP) is even more forthright
in its opposition to the government's policy of restricted relations with the Republic of Cyprus.