NICOSIA - Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash on Tuesday approved a new coalition government presented by outgoing prime minister Mehmet Ali Talat who won early elections last month.
The new government is a renewed alliance between Talat's Republican Turkish Party (CTP) and the Democrat Party (DP) of Serdar Denktash, who is the son of Denktash.
The cabinet is the same as the one which resigned in October after the government lost its parliamentary majority following the failure of a UN plan to reunify the island, forcing early elections in the self-styled Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).
Talat, a dovish politician who favours reunification with the Greek Cypriots, solidified his position in the February 20 polls, in which his party won 24 seats in the 50-member parliament on pledges of reviving peace talks to end the 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.
03/08/2005 17:15 GMT