By Ishrat Hyatt
To celebrate the 26th anniversary of the National Day of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), the representative, Hasibe Sahaglu hosted a reception at the Shamadan Hall of the Serena Hotel, which was attended by ambassadors of the CARs and Arab countries and Pakistanis from different walks of life.
The guest of honour was Minister for Industries and Production, Manzoor Ahmad Wattoo and he cut the cake along with the hostess, the ambassadors of Turkey and Azerbaijan against a backdrop of the flags of Pakistan, TRNC and Turkey.
Guests were happy to see the hostess looking well after her recent illness and congratulated her not only on her national day, but on her recovery. It was a cosy and enjoyable reception not too crowded so that invitees had a chance to interact with each other and relax while having their dinner in which cuisine from TRNC was served. Some guests were surprised to see ‘herise’ on the menu which is similar to the Kashmiri ‘harisa’ both in looks and in taste, except that the Kashmiri dish has small kebabs and is a little more oily because onions are browned and spread over before serving.
A young Cypriot lady from the embassy was the centre of attention both of the guests and the cameramen because she wore a peacock blue sari and carried it off very well although she said it was only the third time she had worn one!
On the gents side it was a smart young officer of the Armed Corps, who was wearing the dress uniform of his battalion, drawing admiring remarks. Guests wondered aloud, as to which country he came from with most of them saying Turkey, but they were surprised to learn he was from Pakistan!
Information on the TRNC says politics 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 April 2009, the right-leaning pro-independence National Unity Party defeated incumbent Republican Turkish Party and won an overall majority. Freedom House has classified Northern Cyprus as free in its annual reports for the last several years.