Northern Cyprus

The Turkish Republic of North Cyprus is a near-completely unrecognized breakaway state on the island of Cyprus. It is somewhat independent, but is a territory under Turkish military occupation. The TRNC is a de jure part of the Republic of Cyprus. The capitol of the breakaway state is Nicosia (or by the Turkish name Lefkoşa). As of 2023, the President is Mustafa Akıncı and the Prime Minister is Özkan Yorgancıoğlu.

Turbulent origins
Before the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus in 1960, there was an ethnic conflict between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots. The Greek Cypriots wanted unification with Greece while the Turkish Cypriots wanted to join Turkey. Instead, the United Kingdom offered each side complete independence. The compromise of independence was accepted. When independence was granted, a constitutional crisis quickly took place as neither Greek Cypriots nor Turkish Cypriots could hold office.

With the already present ethnic tensions and the dispute in governance, the fragile powder keg exploded when the military dictatorship in Greece launched a coup that overthrew the Cypriot government with the goal of annexation or, as ethnic Greeks called it, Enosis (Greek: "Union"). The Turkish Cypriots and the government of Turkey were not happy about that. In 1974 hostilities between the Greeks and Turks exploded. By 1983, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was born as a puppet state under an ongoing military occupation.

Current situation
Since the occupation of Cyprus began back in the 1970s, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 541 which declared North Cyprus as a territory under Turkish occupation. The breakaway state is not considered legal under international law. Between de jure Cyprus and the separatist region is a buffer region maintained by UN peace keeping forces. People traveling between regions have to go through checkpoints due to the ongoing conflict.

Politics
The only country on Earth to actually recognize the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus as a sovereign state is the occupying power of Turkey. All other countries recognize North Cyprus as the territory of the Republic of Cyprus.

The TRNC has a multi-party democratic government. It should be noted that, unlike some breakaway regions, there is a fairly high degree of civil liberties and independent media. Women even have a somewhat decent degree of representation in government. That said, minority rights and LGBTQ rights are lacking to a large degree.

As the territorial dispute continues there have been attempts to resolve the mess. A majority of Greek Cypriots and even Turkish Cypriots support the reunification of the island under de jure Cyprus rule. However, with Turkey pulling the strings of the separatist government and the illegal transfer of settlers to the region, reunification doesn't seem likely any time soon as the Turkish government wants a two-state solution; regardless of what locals want. The only reason that Turkey wants a two-state solution is most likely so that the TRNC could be annexed much like Ukrainian territories were illegally annexed by Russia.

The TRNC is noted to have a record of some authoritarianism. Despite having a fairly decent record of press freedom, there have been incidents where the occupying forces have obstructed the work of journalists. Police corruption is a huge issue as the law enforcement officers engage in brutality against unarmed civilians. The legal system in north Cyprus doesn't have much involving due process and prisoners are denied human rights.

Culture
Due to the occupation and population exchange, the most commonly spoken language is the Cypriot dialect of the Turkish language. Wine is a commonly produced beverage thanks to the Mediterranean climate. Dance and theater are something that the people take pride in. Thanks to consistent imperial takeovers by the Kingdom of Macedon, the Roman Empire and the Ottoman Empire there are significant cultural influences from all three of them. North Cyprus is also noted as having a lot of history museums as history is something that the people also take pride in. In terms of religion, 98% of the population follows the Sunni branch of Islam. However there small Christian communities; mostly Anglican and Roman Catholic. Some Maronite communities exist as does the Bahá'í faith. The Cypriot Muslim community is fairly tolerant of other religions.

Economics
The official currency of this separatist territory is the Turkish Lira, although the Euro and Pound Sterling are frequently used. Most private businesses are family-owned. Items produced are commonly metals, foods, alcohol, fixtures, textiles and clothing. Although not officially a tax haven, the rich and powerful across the world will often start businesses in the region so they don't have to pay taxes on whatever is made.

Organized crime
Thanks to the lack of recognition and the incompetence of the separatist officials, organized crime is a significant problem. Kidnapping, the drug trade, sex trafficking and mafia activity are the biggest issues. Mafia groups have a stranglehold on nightclubs and casinos.