The Republican Turkish Party (Turkish

Turkish language

Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...

: Cumhuriyetçi Türk Partisi, CTP) is a social democratic political party

Political party

A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

 in the Republic of Cyprus

Cyprus

Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...

. The party was founded in 1970 by Ahmet Mithat Berberoğlu

Ahmet Mithat Berberoğlu

Ahmet Mithat Berberoğlu was a Turkish Cypriot politician and the first leader of the Republican Turkish Party.-References:...

, a lawyer, in opposition to the leadership of Fazıl Küçük

Fazil Küçük

Fazıl Küçük was the first Vice President of the Republic of Cyprus.Fazıl Küçük, the son of a farmer, was born in Nicosia in 1906. After graduating from the Turkish High School in Nicosia, Küçük went on to study medicine at the Universities of Istanbul, Lausanne and Paris...

 and Rauf Denktaş

Rauf Denktas

Rauf Raif Denktaş is the founder and the first president of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus , a de facto state which is only recognized by Turkey...

.

In the 1980s, the CTP's political position shifted to the left, to a pro-Soviet

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 stance, as a result of an influx of members who had been students politicised at universities in Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

. Under Özker Özgür

Özker Özgür

Özker Özgür was a leading Turkish-Cypriot politician. Özgür, whose last name means “free” was born in 1940 in the village of Vretça, Paphos, Cyprus. During 1961-1975 he worked as a secondary school English teacher on the island. With the votes of the teachers, he was elected to the founding...

 the party held rapprochement meetings with the Greek leftist party of Cyprus, AKEL

Progressive Party of Working People

The Progressive Party of Working People is a communist party in Cyprus. It supports an independent, demilitarized and non-aligned Cyprus, and a federal solution of the internal aspect of the Cyprus problem. It places particular emphasis on rapprochement with the Turkish Cypriots. It supported...

. From 1996 the party was led by Mehmet Ali Talat

Mehmet Ali Talat

Mehmet Ali Talat is the former President of the unrecognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. He was the leader of the left wing Republican Turkish Party . He became prime minister in 2004, and subsequently won the Presidential election held on 17 April 2005...

 until his election as president in 2005. After the fall of Communism

Communism

Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...

 in eastern Europe and USSR a natural process of change started. The party's leader today is Ferdi Sabit Soyer

Ferdi Sabit Soyer

Ferdi Sabit Soyer is a former Prime Minister of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, and Leader of Republican Turkish Party ....

 and the party is leaning towards the European social-democratic and liberal

Liberalism

Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...

 system.

The Republican Turkish party is for unification of the island, and Mehmet Ali Talat had begun to undertake weekly meetings with Demetris Christofias, regarding power sharing, armed forces, land ownership, and other problems that would arise in the event of reunification the island.

On 30 June 2008, the Republican Turkish Party became a consultative member of the Socialist International

Socialist International

The Socialist International is a worldwide organization of democratic socialist, social democratic and labour political parties. It was formed in 1951.- History :...

 (voted in by all members except the Movement for Social Democracy

Movement for Social Democracy

The Movement for Social Democracy EDEK is a Social Democratic party in Cyprus. It was originally founded by Dr Vasos Lyssaridis in 1969 as the United Democratic Union of Centre, EDEK and it was socialist party. It has gradually evolved into a social-democratic political party...

).