The Democratic Party (

Turkish Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

: ''Demokrat Parti'', DP) is a

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

Northern Cyprus Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a ''de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the Geography of Cyprus, island of Cyprus. It is List of states with limited recognition, recognis ...

. The leader of the party is

Fikri Ataoğlu Fikri (Arabic: فِكْرِي ''fik·riy, fik·rī, fik·ry'') also spelled Fekri, is a masculine given Arabic name or surname in the possessive form, which generally means "thoughtful" but also could bear the meaning "intellectually, mentally, spir ...

Overview

The Democratic Party was founded as a breakaway from the ruling right-wing

National Unity Party The National Unity Party, National United Party, Party of National Unity or National Unity Front may refer to: * National United Party of Afghanistan (founded 2003) * National Unity Party (Albania) * National United Party (Armenia), defunct * Natio ...

(UBP) in 1992. The party merged in 1993 with the New Dawn Party (YDP), a party representing the interests of the

Turkish settlers in Northern Cyprus The Turkish settlers ( Cypriot Turkish: , "those from Turkey"), also referred to as the Turkish immigrants (), are a group of Turkish people from Turkey who have settled in Northern Cyprus since the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974. It is estim ...

, and consistently had high levels of support in the settler population until the 2003 election. Rauf Denktaş had considerable influence on the party. At the

legislative elections A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...

for the Assembly of the Republic on 20 January 2005, the party won 13.5% of the popular vote and 6 out of 50 seats. Its candidate,

Mustafa Arabacıoğlu Mustafa () is one of the names of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the name means "chosen, selected, appointed, preferred", used as an Arabic given name and surname. Mustafa is a common name in the Muslim world. Given name Moustafa * Moustafa A ...

, won 13.3% of the votes in the Northern Cyprus presidential elections on 17 April 2005. At the

on 19 April 2009 the DP won 5 out of 50 seats and 10.7% of the popular vote. In 2013, 8 members of the parliament resigned from the

(UBP) and joined the Democratic Party. The party subsequently renamed itself Democratic Party — National Forces. At the

in 2013, the DP greatly increased its share of the votes and won 12 out of 50 seats and 23.2% of the popular vote. The party then subsequently went on to become the junior partner of the coalition government under the

Republican Turkish Party The Republican Turkish Party (, CTP; ) is a social-democratic political party in Northern Cyprus. The party was founded in 1970 by Ahmet Mithat Berberoğlu, a lawyer, in opposition to the leadership of Fazıl Küçük and Rauf Denktaş. On 30 ...

(CTP). However, in 2014, four members of the parliament resigned from the party and three of them joined the National Unity Party. In July 2015, the party became the main opposition party, against the CTP-UBP coalition. It joined the government as the junior partner once again, this time with the UBP, in April 2016.

Leaders of the Democratic Party

Hakkı Atun Hakkı Atun (born 7 October 1935) is a former Prime Minister of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. He held this office between 1994 and 1996. He was born in Famagusta in 1935. In 1959, he graduated from Istanbul Technical University as an ...

(30 July 1992 - 16 August 1996) *

Serdar Denktaş Serdar Denktaş (born 1959) is son of Rauf Denktaş, the former President of the de facto Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a '' de facto'' state that comp ...

(16 August 1996 - 30 November 2019) * (30 November 2019 – present)

Election results

References

External links

Demokrat Bakış, official newspaper of the party
{{Authority control Political parties in Northern Cyprus Conservative parties in Europe Conservative parties in Asia 1992 establishments in Northern Cyprus Political parties established in 1992 Turkish nationalism in Cyprus Turkish nationalist organizations