Northern Cyprus

Northern Cyprus is a region of the island of Cyprus which is regarded by most authorities as legally part of the Republic of Cyprus but which is autonomous due largely to the support of the region by Turkey.

Partners situated in Northern Cyprus

None.

Northern Cyprus in a nutshell

(aourced from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_Republic_of_Northern_Cyprus)

Northern Cyprus - in full the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) (Turkish: Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti, KKTC), commonly called Northern Cyprus (Turkish: Kuzey Kıbrıs), 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 attempt to annex the island to Greece triggered an intervention by Turkey. It has received diplomatic recognition only from Turkey, on which it has become dependent for economic, political and military support. The rest of the international community, including the United Nations and European Union, recognises the sovereignty of the Republic of Cyprus over the territory of the TRNC.

Source : http://www.cia.gov

The Turkish Army maintains a large force in the TRNC that meets with the approval of much of the Turkish Cypriot population. However, the Republic of Cyprus regards it as an illegal occupation force; its presence has also been criticised in several United Nations Security Council resolutions. Attempts to reach a solution to the dispute have so far been unsuccessful. In 2004 the UN Annan Plan to reunite the island was accepted by a majority of Turkish Cypriots in a referendum, but rejected by a resounding majority of 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 area), and southward to the village of Louroujina/Akıncılar. The buffer zone stretching between the two areas is under the control of the United Nations.

Politics of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus takes place in a framework of a semi-presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President is head of state and the Prime Minister head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Assembly of the Republic. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.

The president is elected for a five-year term. The current president is Mehmet Ali Talat who won the presidential elections on April 17, 2005. The legislature is the Assembly of the Republic, which has 50 members elected by proportional representation from five electoral districts. In the elections of February 2005, the Republican Turkish Party, which favors a peace settlement and the reunification of Cyprus, retained its position as the largest parliamentary party, but failed to win an overall majority.

Northern Cyprus is divided into five districts.

• Lefkoşa (Nicosia)
• Mağusa (Famagusta)
• Girne (Kyrenia)
• Güzelyurt (Morphou)
• İskele (Trikomo)

According to a census carried out in the beginning of 2006 by the Turkish Cypriot administration, the TRNC has a population of 265,100, of which majority is composed of indigenous Turkish Cypriots, with the rest including a large number of settlers from Turkey. Of the 178,000 Turkish Cypriot citizens, 82% are native Cypriots (145,000). Of the 45,000 people born to non-Cypriot parentage, nearly 40% (17,000) were born in Cyprus. The figure for non-citizens, including students, guest workers and temporary residents stood at 78,000 people.

Estimates by the government of the Republic of Cyprus from 2001 place the population at 200,000, of which 80-89,000 are Turkish Cypriots and 109,000-117,000 Turkish settlers. An island-wide census in 1960 indicated the number of Turkish Cypriots as 102,000 and Greek Cypriots as 450,000. Estimates state that 36,000 (about 1/3) Turkish Cypriots emigrated in the period 1975-1995, with the consequence that within Northern Cyprus the native Turkish Cypriots have been outnumbered by settlers from Turkey.

The TRNC is almost entirely Turkish speaking. English, however, is widely spoken as a second language. Many of the older Turkish Cypriots speak and understand Greek - some may even be considered native speakers of the Greek Cypriot dialect.

There are small populations of Greek Cypriots and Maronites (about 3,000) living in Rizokarpaso (Dipkarpaz)and Kormakitis regions. Before 1974, Rizokarpaso was predominantly inhabited by Greek-Cypriots. During the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, the peninsula was cut off by Turkish troops, and this prevented the town's Greek-Cypriot inhabitants from fleeing to the South. As a result, Rizokarpaso is the home of the biggest Greek-speaking population in the North. The Greek-Cypriot inhabitants are still supplied by the UN, and Greek-Cypriot products are consequently available in some shops. Today, the town is also the home of a large Kurdish minority. The town has both a Kafeneion and a Kahvehane and both seem to be used indiscriminately by both ethnic groups.

Northern Cyprus education policy

(this and the next two sections are sourced from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Northern_Cyprus)

Education in Northern Cyprus is organized by TRNC Ministry of National Education and Culture. 5 years of primary education is mandatory.

Northern Cyprus education system

For a complete description in English of the Northern Cyprus Education system (for schools) see http://talimterbiye.mebnet.net/CypTurEduSys.pdf

Kindergarten

Children in Northern Cyprus, below age 6, can attend kindergartens of public and private institutions. Kindergarten is not mandatory.

Elementary School

Elementary school provides 5 years of education for children between the ages of 6 and 11. All elementary schools are public and free.

High School

High schools provide a minimum 6 years of education, where 3 years last for junior high school (Ortaokul). There are different kinds of high schools in Northern Cypriot education system, such as standart public high schools, private high schools, science high schools, vocational high schools, technical high schools and fine arts high schools. As of 2008, there are 18 high schools, 14 junior high schools and 12 vocational high schools.

Higher education

Universities in Northern Cyprus

All the universities in Northern Cyprus are private. There are five Northern Cypriot universities holding over 40,000 students.

• Near East University (Yakın Doğu Üniversitesi)
• Eastern Mediteranean University (Doğu Akdeniz Üniversitesi)
• Cyprus International University (Uluslararası Kıbrıs Üniversitesi)
• Lefke European University (Lefke Avrupa Üniversitesi)
• The American University of Girne (Girne Amerikan Üniversitesi)

Polytechnics in Northern Cyprus

There is also a campus of Middle East Technical University.

Istanbul Technical University is also planning to open a campus in Northern Cyprus.

Atatürk Teacher Academy and Police Academy provide vocational education in related subjects.

Administration and finance

Omitted.

Quality assurance

Omitted.

Northern Cyprus HEIs in the information society

Omitted.

Virtual Campuses in HE

None known.

Interesting Virtual Campus Initiatives

Anadolu University in Turkey delivers some programmes into Northern Cyprus.

References

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For OER policies and projects in Northern Cyprus see Northern Cyprus/OER

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