NICOSIA - The two parties of an outgoing coalition government in the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) have reached a preliminary deal to renew their alliance, officials said Monday.
Delegates from the Republican Turkish Party (CTP) of outgoing premier Mehmet Ali Talat and the Democrat Party (DP) of Serdar Denktash said after talks late Sunday they had agreed their parties should receive seven and three portfolios, respectively, in the new government.
CTP secretary-general Ferdi Sabit Soyer told Turkey's Anatolia news agency on Monday that the deal was subject to final approval by the two parties' executives, a process expected to take several days.
DP leader Denktash had said Sunday that the cabinet list would be submitted to the presidency for approval on Monday.
In early polls held on February 20, the CTP won 24 of the 5O seats in the parliament of the TRNC on pledges of reviving peace talks with rival Greek Cypriots to end the decades-old Cyprus conflict.
The DP obtained six seats.
Talat's election victory was seen as a sign of a strong wish by Turkish Cypriots to resolve the island's division and formally form part of the European Union.
The internationally-recognized Greek Cypriot south joined the European bloc in May 2004.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops occupied its northern third following a Greek Cypriot coup seeking to unite the eastern Mediterranean island with Greece.
03/07/2005 10:56 GMT