Republic of Cyprus

There were no elections in 2022.

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC)

Parliamentary elections

On 23 January, early parliamentary elections were held (Table 1). Before Turkish Cypriots went to the polls, the government was led by Prime Minister Faiz Sucuoğlu of the National Unity Party (UBP). The Sucuoğlu Cabinet, which was formed in November 2021 and was a minority coalition government of the UBP and the Democratic Party (DP), operated as a caretaker government until the snap election. In the election, the UBP won 24 seats, an increase of three seats, compared to the previous election of 2018. The main opposition party, the Republican Turkish Party (CTP), won 18 seats, six seats more than in the previous election. Three other parties won seats; the DP and the People's Party (HP) both won three seats, while the Rebirth Party (RP) won two seats. The Communal Democracy Party (TDP) lost all its seats, and hence its representation in the Parliament.

Table 1.

Elections to the Parliament (KKTC Meclisi) in Northern Cyprus in 2022

Source: KKTC Yüksek Seçim Kurulu (2023) (http://ysk.mahkemeler.net).

Republic of Cyprus

On 7 January, Foreign Minister Nicos Christodoulidis submitted his resignation amid widespread speculation that he intended to run as a presidential candidate. The resignation took effect on 11 January. Prior to his resignation, he faced pressure from the leader and presidential candidate of his party, DISY, to clarify his intentions. At the time of stepping down, Christodoulides stated that he was interested in running for the office but had not yet made a final decision. His position as Foreign Minister was then filled by Ioannis Kasoulidis on 11 January, who had previously served as Foreign Minister from 2013 to 2018.

Tragedy struck on 15 May when Labour Minister Zeta Emilianidou suffered a brain aneurysm. Sadly, after several weeks in a coma, she passed away on 6 June. During her incapacitation, Transport Minister Yiannis Karousos temporarily assumed her duties. However, on 27 June, Kyriacos Koushos, the Undersecretary to the President, was sworn in as the new Labour Minister (Table 2).

Table 2.

Cabinet composition of Anastasiades II in Cyprus in 2022

Source: Presidency of the Republic of Cyprus (2023) (www.presidency.gov.cy/cypresidency/cypresidency.nsf/dmlint_en/dmlint_en?OpenDocument).

TRNC

The UBP, the DP and the RP (YDP) formed a new coalition government (see Table 3 for the composition of the outgoing Cabinet), according to an announcement made by the Prime Minister-designate Faiz Sucuoğlu on 21 February. In the 50-seat Parliament, 29 seats were held by the coalition parties. The new Cabinet was as follows (see also Table 4): Faiz Sucuoğlu (UBP): Prime Minister; Fikri Ataoğlu (DP): Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Culture, Youth and Environment; Ünal Üstel (UBP): Minister of Interior; Hasan Taçoy (UBP): Minister of Foreign Affairs; Kutlu Evren (UBP): Minister of Economy and Energy; Sunat Atun (UBP): Minister of Finance; Erhan Arıklı (YBP): Minister of Public Works and Transport; Nazım Çavuşoğlu (UBP): Minister of Education; Ali Pilli (UBP): Minister of Health; Dursun Oğuz (UBP): Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources; Oğuzhan Hasipoğlu (UBP): Minister of Labour and Social Security.

Table 3.

Cabinet composition of Sucuoğlu I in Northern Cyprus in 2022

Source: KKTC Başbakanlık (Prime Ministry) (2022) (https://basbakanlik.gov.ct.tr/BAKANLAR-KURULU/G%C3%96REV-DA%C4%9EILIMI).

Table 4.

Cabinet composition of Sucuoğlu II in Northern Cyprus in 2022

Source: Yüksek Seçim Kurulu (YSK) (2023) (http://ysk.mahkemeler.net).

On 3 March, the UBP-DP-YDP coalition, formed on 21 February, passed a vote of confidence from the Parliament with 29 seats in favour. On 7 March, Zorlu Töre, of the UBP, was elected as the Speaker of the Parliament, and Fazilet Özdenefe of CTP was elected Deputy Speaker.

On 9 March, less than three weeks after the creation of his Cabinet, Prime Minister Faiz Sucuoğlu announced a reshuffle. After Oğuzhan Hasipoğlu announced his resignation as Minister of Labour and Social Security, modifications were made. The new Minister of Labour and Social Security, Hasan Taçoym, succeeded Hasipoğlu but under pressure from Ankara, Taçoy, who had previously served as Foreign Minister, was replaced by Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu.

The UBP-DP-YDP coalition government resigned on 19 April. Disagreements over price increases existed between Prime Minister Sucuoğlu and his Finance Minister Atun in the background of the resignation.

On 12 May, Ünal Üstel became the new Prime Minister following the formation of a new Cabinet (Table 5). The two largest opposition parties, the CTP and the HP, refused to even speak with Üstel, claiming that President Tatar's choice to appoint Üstel was illegal. On 26 May, the HP Chairperson Kudret Özersay announced his withdrawal from his parliamentary seat due to an ‘illegitimate UBP-DP-YDP government’.

Table 5.

Cabinet composition of Üstel I in Northern Cyprus in 2022

Source: Yüksek Seçim Kurulu (YSK) (2023) (http://ysk.mahkemeler.net).

On 25 July, Sunat Atun, the Finance Minister, tendered his resignation due to the management of the Electricity Authority (Kib-Tek) being taken away from the Ministry of Finance. Alişan Şan, the UBP Nicosia deputy, was appointed as the new Minister of Finance.

Republic of Cyprus

Two of the smaller political parties changed their names in 2022 (Table 8). On 20 February, the centrist party Democratic Front—DEPA renamed itself Democratic Front–Collaboration Democratic Forces (Δημοκρατική Παράταξη – Συνεργασία Δημοκρατικών Δυνάμεων). On 23 October, the social democrats of EDEK decided to change their name from Movement for Social Democracy EDEK to EDEK Socialist Party (Κίνημα Σοσιαλδημοκρατών ΕΔΕΚ– Σοσιαλιστικό Κόμμα).

Table 8.

Changes in political parties in Cyprus in 2022

Source: See main text.

TRNC

A court injunction halted Ayşegül Baybars (MP for Famagusta) and Jale Refik Rogers (MP for Kyrenia) from being kicked out of the HP on 6 July. The two MPs disobeyed the party assembly's resolution in May to resign their seats in Parliament in opposition to how the present coalition government was constituted. In response, they had been subjected to disciplinary action by the HP leadership.

Ünal Üstel won the position of UBP leader on 11 September, after standing unopposed at an ‘extraordinary’ party conference. Following the departure of Faiz Sucuoğlu, Üstel, who had previously been appointed Prime Minister in the three-party coalition administration formed by the UBP, assumed leadership of the party.

Fikri Ataoğlu, the DP's leader (one of the coalition government partners), was re-elected as the party's head on 18 September. Out of the 7470 party members present at the party's Congress, 2135 cast ballots. Ali Tunçtaşlı won 522 votes in opposition to Fikri Ataoğlu's 1586 votes.

Ayşegül Baybars and Jale Refik-Rogers made their resignations from the HP official on 21 November. Sixty-four HP members, including former members of the central executive board and former Nicosia MP Gülşah Sanver Manavoğlu, also submitted their resignations to the party's headquarters.

Republic of Cyprus

The first half of 2022 saw the Republic of Cyprus grappling with the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, which negatively impacted every aspect of workers’ daily lives. Later in the year, the war in Ukraine further exacerbated the costs of living, combined with high inflation.

In the first few months of 2022, the number of COVID-19 cases on the island dramatically increased. The highly transmissible Omicron variant led to a staggering rise in cases, soaring from 166,827 in January to 430,726 by March. Simultaneously, the number of deaths rose from 638 to 935 during the same period. However, as the year progressed, there was a gradual return to normalcy, with COVID-19 restrictions being lifted, allowing the virus to spread more freely.

By August, the obligation to wear masks in public was lifted, even though the cases had further increased to 489,963, and the number of deaths attributed to the virus stood at 1059.

Domestic politics were dominated by the upcoming presidential elections scheduled for February 2023. President Nicos Anastasiadis, having completed two terms in office, was ineligible to run again. On 9 January, Foreign Minister Nicos Christodoulidis, who was rumoured to be considering a presidential bid, stepped down without clarifying his intentions. He was replaced by Ioaannis Kasoulidis, who had previously served as Foreign Minister from 2013 to 2018. Throughout the year, it became increasingly evident that Christodoulidis intended to run as an independent candidate, potentially splitting the support of his party, DISY. The main opposition party, AKEL, ruled out endorsing any party leader from another party, but they aimed to secure a common candidate with other parties.

By April, the outgoing Greek Cypriot negotiator, Andreas Mavroyiannis, publicly expressed his interest in running for the upcoming presidential elections. Initially, his candidacy was associated with the main opposition party, AKEL, as talks with the opposition DP, DIKO, for a joint candidate had failed earlier in the month. AKEL eventually endorsed Mavroyiannis as their candidate in late May, although formally he presented himself as an independent candidate.

On 12 May, Nikos Christodoulidis announced his candidacy for the presidential elections, stating that he remained a member of DISY but would contest the elections as an independent candidate, as DISY had already decided to support Averoff Neophytou. Despite officially backing the leader of his party, Neophytou, President Anastasiades’ lukewarm support and political manoeuvres left many, including Neophytou himself, with the impression that Anastasiadis was secretly backing Christodoulidis.

As more candidates entered the race throughout the year, it became evident that the competition would be primarily between Christodoulidis, Neophytou and Mavroyiannis. Christodoulidis consistently led the polls by a significant margin and remained the favourite. His chances were further boosted when smaller parties, such as DIKO, DIPA (Democratic Alignment) and EDEK (Movement for Social Democracy), decided to support him, even though he formally continued to run as an independent candidate.

The Republic of Cyprus firmly aligned itself with the West in response to the Russian attack on Ukraine, despite its history of pro-Russian sentiment and policies. This included implementing EU sanctions on some members of the Russian community on the island. A significant number of wealthy Russians had obtained Cypriot citizenship through the citizenship by investment program, which was eventually terminated due to European pressure and the revelations of an Al Jazeera documentary exposing the lack of controls. Furthermore, Cyprus quickly became a host to approximately 17,000 refugees from Ukraine, coexisting uneasily alongside the large Russian community on the island. In April, Cyprus revoked eight Cypriot passports from Russians listed on the EU sanctions list. Meanwhile, the island faced economic challenges due to the potential loss of 800,000 visitors from Russia and Ukraine, highlighting the stakes involved. Russians constituted the second-largest group of tourists to Cyprus, making a significant contribution to the Greek Cypriot economy.

The economy of the Republic of Cyprus relies heavily on services, with sectors like tourism, financial services and real estate, accounting for almost 80 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) before the pandemic. Conversely, industry contributed only 10 per cent, and agriculture made up a mere 2 per cent of the economy. Following five years of continuous growth since the 2013 financial crisis, the southern economy slipped into recession again in 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. But despite tourism losses as a consequence of the war in Ukraine, tourist arrivals gradually recovered by the end of 2022, reaching 80 per cent of the 2019 levels. While the economy had shrunk by 5.1 per cent in 2020, it rebounded with a growth rate of 4.8 per cent in 2021, and this economic upturn continued in 2022. Cyprus’ GDP increased by 5.8 per cent year-on-year, amounting to $28.5 billion in 2022. Public debt also significantly decreased from 103.6 per cent of GDP in 2021 to 89.3 per cent by the end of 2022.

After experiencing deflation of −1.1 per cent in 2020, the country transitioned to low inflation of 1.67 per cent in 2021. However, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Cyprus, like the rest of the world, faced a sharp rise in inflation in 2022, with an annual rate of 8.4 per cent in the first 11 months of the year. The government responded with a series of measures, and by August, the government had spent 0.7 per cent of GDP in order to assist the population and limit the increase in energy prices.

Unemployment showed a slight decline, moving from 7.6 per cent in 2020 to 7.5 per cent in 2021. The positive trend continued, estimated to be around 7 per cent until the end of 2022. However, this improvement was not reflected in youth unemployment figures. Youth unemployment had reduced from 19.9 per cent in December 2020 to 15.1 per cent in December 2021, but by December 2022, the figure had risen to 18.6 per cent.

In August 2021, the Republic of Cyprus signed an agreement with the European Commission as part of the EU Recovery and Resilience Plan, aiming to mitigate the economic and social impact of the coronavirus pandemic and support green and digital transitions within EU countries. In 2022, Cyprus formulated the ‘Cyprus-Tomorrow’ National Resilience and Recovery Plan to leverage these funds and others, with an estimated economic impact of €4.4 billion. The first tranche of €85 million was successfully disbursed in December 2022.

During 2022, the Trade Union Movement of Cyprus was invited to participate in the social dialogue in the Labour Advisory Body. The Minister of Labour extended invitations to employers’ organisations and trade unions to address crucial labour issues. One significant concern discussed in this dialogue was the cost-of-living allowance. Employers advocated for the abolition of the allowance, while trade unions demanded its full reinstatement for all eligible employees.

Another essential development in 2022 was the introduction of the national minimum wage (NMW). The dialogue surrounding this issue took place throughout the year, and the NMW was implemented in January 2023, to be re-evaluated in 2024. Despite the establishment of the Minimum Wage Law (21/1973) in 1973, an NMW was only applied for the first time on 1 January 2023. Set at €940 per month, this measure is expected to impact 40,000 workers. However, workers in agriculture, shipping and domestic work are exempted from the minimum wage requirements, as are interns or individuals undergoing training for a degree or professional qualifications.

In 2022, the controversy over the unilateral decision of the Greek Cypriots to search and exploit hydrocarbon reserves off the coast of Cyprus remained unresolved, but tensions gradually decreased. Test drillings in 2022 and steps to extract gas from the Aphrodite field were not answered by Turkish activities in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) claimed by the Republic of Cyprus as it happened in the past.

In January, the US State Department issued a statement declaring the EastMed Gas Pipeline economically not viable. The pipeline project, which aimed to link Israel via Cyprus to Greece and then to Europe, had been pursued by Greece, Cyprus and Israel for several years. However, experts had always expressed scepticism about its feasibility. With the US declaration, the project faced its demise. Instead, Washington expressed a preference for interconnecting the electricity grids of the region. Turkey had been staunchly opposed to the pipeline.

During the same month, the EU approved €657 million for the EuroAsia Interconnector project. This €1.5 billion initiative aimed to end Cyprus' energy isolation by linking its electricity grid with those of Greece and Israel through a submarine cable with a 2000-megawatt capacity. In October, the EuroAsia Interconnector project was officially inaugurated, and it is expected to be completed by 2027. This connection will allow Cyprus to export its surplus renewable energy and receive energy if needed.

Finally, on 7 November, Archbishop Chrysostomos II passed away at the age of 81. On 24 December, the Holy Synod elected Georgios, the Bishop of Paphos, as the new Archbishop of the autocephalous Church of Cyprus.

TRNC

A similar trend took place in the TRNC regarding the COVID-19 cases in 2022. During September 2022, all restrictions, including the obligation to wear masks and travelling with vaccination, had been dropped. Officially, the number of deaths related to the virus was 262 in the TRNC.

On 8 February, gunmen shot and killed Halil Falyalı, a well-known Turkish Cypriot businessman with claimed ties to organised crime, close to his Kyrenia house. He was well-known for being the primary supporter of Ersin Tatar's UBP campaigns and for having close relations with several Turkish Cypriot officials. He was charged for money laundering in the United States.

On 25 August, the government passed a law reducing the number of municipalities from 28 to 18 despite angry demonstrations outside Parliament and filibustering by the main opposition CTP deputies. CTP, the biggest opposition party, requested a suspension of the application of the (Special) Law on the Unification of Municipalities. The Constitutional Court denied the request. As a result, there were 18 municipalities in the local elections that took place on 25 December.

On 14 April, the Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay and the Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister Faiz Sucuoglu signed the 2022 Economic and Financial Cooperation Protocol in Ankara. Under the agreement, Turkey allocated 4.25 billion Turkish lira (TL) for the TRNC in 2022. The protocol had been prepared under four main headings: ‘public administration and public finance policies’, ‘economic and financial policies’, ‘social policies’ and ‘defence, security and justice’. The content of the ‘Economic and Financial Cooperation Protocol’ between Turkey and the TRNC gained criticism, as it was seen that the amendments in it aimed to establish an oppressive regime similar to Turkey where freedom of thought and expression are limited (Aygin Reference Aygin2022).

In February, Turkey denied entry to a former Turkish Cypriot member of Parliament (CTP) and peace activist Okan Dağlı, who arrived at İzmir airport with his wife, over ‘national security reasons’. On 25 July, another Turkish Cypriot, the former BRT (public broadcaster) director and journalist, Aysu Basri Akter, was treated as an inadmissible passenger in Turkey on the grounds of ‘national security’ and sent back to Cyprus due to her work entitled ‘Democracy, Will, Intervention’ in the daily Yenidüzen, where she covered the relations between Turkey and TRNC. On 16 November, the Turkish Cypriot daily Havadis’ editor-in-chief, Başaran Düzgun, was denied entry to Turkey. Altogether, seven Turkish Cypriots were denied entry into Turkey in 2022. The absence of knowledge as to who is on the list made things more complicated and in some cases demotivated certain left-wing Turkish Cypriots to use Ercan Airport in the north, which connects Northern Cyprus to the rest of the world via Turkey. Instead, more and more Turkish Cypriots opted to use Larnaca International Airport.

A demonstration was held at the end of September to protest against the beginning of the construction of a külliye, a government complex in north Nicosia that would cost about 2.5 billion TL, which was financed by Turkey. The demonstration was basically a protest against the grave Islamist interventions by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) into the very secular lifestyles of the Turkish Cypriots. Amid these developments, Metin Feyzioğlu—former Kemalist head of the Turkish Bar Association and once Erdoğan's archenemy, though current ally—was appointed as the new Turkish ambassador to Nicosia.

The 2022 edition of the World Press Freedom Index of the Reporters Without Borders, showed that the northern part of the island has slipped from 76th to 81st place (Reporters Without Borders 2023). On 13 June, over 100 journalists staged a peaceful demonstration against the government's proposal to resurrect laws that would limit freedom of speech. Organised by the Turkish Cypriot Journalists Association, journalists of all ages and political views came together for a 24-hour demonstration in front of the Parliament to protest the planned assault on freedom of speech. The protest succeeded and the government withdrew the bill.

High inflation continued to plague the Turkish Cypriot society and economy. The consumer price index was 120.7 per cent higher in October 2022, compared to October 2021. Consumer prices had risen by 3.4 per cent in September alone, while the inflation rate in the first 10 months of the year was 81.6 per cent. The Turkish Cypriot weekly Cyprus Today reported that, as of the end of October, annual food inflation stood at 130.75 per cent; some of the biggest price hikes have been among basic food products.

On 30 June, the government announced a ‘mini economic package’ to assist businesses struggling due to the current economic crisis. The package includes different types of loans, worth 100 million TL (€5.7 million).

Private sector employees received 41 per cent pay rise in January after the new minimum wage rate came into effect. The gross monthly minimum wage for a full-time employee has gone up from 4970 to 7000 TL, while the net amount has risen from 4324 TL (€282) to 6090 TL (€397). This, however, did not fully compensate for the income loss created by the inflation, which continued during the rest of the year.

Public services were shut down nationwide on 1 April as a result of one of the largest protests in history, which was organised by trade unions from all political persuasions in opposition to rising costs, stagnant wages and the ‘impoverishment’ of the general populace. Numerous protesters, including those from the opposition CTP and HP, marched in the direction of the Prime Minister's Office, which was heavily guarded by the police. On 12 April, the electricity of all of the government offices was cut off as part of a protest conducted by the Cyprus Turkish Electricity Authority Workers’ Union (El-Sen).

The new salary bands for personnel in the public and semi-public sectors were issued on 22 July to account for the 56.76 per cent increase in the cost of living during the first half of 2022. The lowest-paid public employees would make a gross monthly wage of 13,074 TL (€747), while the highest-ranking civil servants, the undersecretaries, would make a minimum of 49,628 TL (€2836).

The net minimum pay was determined at 8600 TL on 7 July by the Minimum Pay Determination Commission, which was presided over by the Minister of Labor and Social Security. The proposed new net minimum wage, according to the Cyprus Turkish Public Servants Union (Kamu-Sen), is ‘unacceptable’ since it falls ‘below the breadline’, which they determined to be 9046 TL. Their protests had little impact on the situation.

On 16 September, the United States lifted its arms embargo against the Republic of Cyprus, which had been imposed in 1987. This decision came as a result of the Republic of Cyprus fulfilling all the conditions stipulated in the legislation known as the Eastern Mediterranean Security and Energy Partnership Act, established by the American Congress in 2019. In response to this move, Turkey threatened to increase its military presence on the island even further.

Cyprus issue

The Republic of Cyprus remained entrenched in a complete stalemate over the Cyprus issue, which persisted since the failed talks in Crans Montana in 2017. Throughout 2022, there was no substantial progress on a confidence-building level. On 15 April, Andreas Mavroyiannis resigned as the Greek Cypriot negotiator for the Cyprus Problem, citing the lack of any developments in the stalled negotiations. He was replaced by Menelaos Menelaou, an official from the Foreign Ministry and a former member of the Greek Cypriot negotiation team. Mavroyiannis had served as the chief negotiator for the Greek Cypriot side since September 2013.

In June, US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Victoria Nuland, visited Cyprus and held separate meetings with both community leaders, Anastasiadis and Tatar. She suggested that, in the absence of a resolution to the Cyprus issue, the south and north might cooperate in the energy sector. Tatar reiterated his demand for the recognition of the north's sovereign equality and international standing as a precondition for resuming formal negotiations. He also opposed the confidence-building measures proposed by the Greek Cypriot side, arguing that they would expand the south's sovereignty into the north. Tatar suggested connecting the north and south with Turkey and the European electrical grid as a solution to the island's energy issues.

On 12 July, Anastasiades and Tatar met separately with the UN's Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Asia and the Americas, Miroslav Jenca, who was conducting a fact-finding mission to establish conditions for the resumption of talks based on UN Security Council resolutions and the Secretary-General's mandate. During this meeting, Tatar presented his proposals for future cooperation between the two states, focusing on shared hydrocarbon exploration, an electricity interconnector to the EU via Turkey, joint solar energy projects and shared use of water resources. On 20 July, Anastasiades dismissed these proposals, viewing them as another attempt to push for a two-state solution.

In response to the announcement by Turkish and Turkish Cypriot leaders on the further reopening of the fenced-off area of Varosha on 20 July 2021, the Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2646 (2022). This condemned the action, as the area was previously inhabited mainly by Greek Cypriots before the Turkish invasion and partition of the island in 1974. The UN resolutions demand the return of properties to their rightful owners under UN administration. Despite Turkey and the authorities in the north claiming it would be eventually put under Turkish Cypriot administration and offering some former Greek Cypriot owners the right to return, the ghost town has been partially opened as a tourist attraction, and none of the former inhabitants have been invited to return.