Eroglu formally resigns as more coalition talks expected

By Jean Christou

DERVIS Eroglu, the ‘Prime Minister’ of the breakaway regime in the north, yesterday submitted his resignation to Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash in the wake of the collapse of the governing coalition on Thursday.

Denktash, who accepted the resignation, will decide on whom to call to form a new ‘government’ after his meetings with the political parties on Monday, Turkish Cypriot press reported yesterday.

During a meeting on Thursday, Eroglu’s National Unity Party (UBP) assembly approved the breaking up of the coalition and the formation of a new ‘government’.

The party, which has 23 of the 50 seats in ‘parliament’, was due to start talks with other parties to form a new coalition. Reports said talks would start with the Democratic Party led by Denktash’s son, Serdar.

The UBP’s coalition with the Communal Liberation Party (TKP) collapsed because of differences over the stance on a solution to the Cyprus problem. Proximity talks between the two sides broke down at the end of last year when Denktash decided to boycott the talks until his regime was granted international recognition.

TKP leader and ‘Deputy Prime Minister’ Mustafa Akinci was yesterday quoted as saying the coalition “did not disband but was made to disband” and charged Denktash with playing a major role.

“The government was finished off within the framework of a collaboration established with Mr Denktash by that wing of the Turkish Republic that is not interested in a solution in Cyprus, that is opposed to EU membership and that disapproves of democracy,” he said.

He said the differences between the UBP and the TKP were not personal but ideological and that they had remained in power for two years with no serious disagreements apart from the TKP’s view that the Turkish Cypriot side should attend the proximity talks.

An editorial in the mainland Turkish Daily News said yesterday a new highly conservative ‘government’ would be set up in the north, which would become more militant on the Cyprus problem.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.