The Politics of Northern Cyprus takes place in a framework of a semi-presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the president is head of state and the prime minister is the 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. Since the Turkish invasion of 1974, the Republic of Cyprus has been divided: the northern third of the island was unilaterally declared to be the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) by its Turkish Cypriot population. The United Nations considers the declaration of independence of Northern Cyprus to be legally invalid and calls for the withdrawal of troops from Turkey that invaded the island in support of the Turkisk Cypriot minority. The government of Northern Cyprus has not been diplomatically recognized except by the Government of Turkey since its unilateral declaration of independence in 1983. In 1974, the Greek-backed Cypriot National Guard took over the government in a coup. Turkey sent troops in response, claiming it had authority under the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee, Turkish Cypriots set up their own institutions as the "Turkish Federated State of North Cyprus". In 1983, the Turkish Cypriots unilaterally declared independence as the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). In 1985, they adopted a constitution and held elections—an arrangement thus far recognized only by Turkey. Political conditions From 1975 to 2005, the president was Rauf Denktaş. An ardent nationalist, he pursued a policy of trying to gain international recognition of Northern Cyprus. However, this stance proved to be a major stumbling block to reconciliation efforts. This stance, while initially supported by the Turkish Cypriot populace, began to work against him when the Republic of Cyprus joined the European Union. Northern Cyprus held multi-party parliamentary elections in 1993, removing the long-ruling National Unity Party in favour of a coalition of the Democratic Party and Republican Turkish Party (CTP). However, in August 1996, a new coalition was formed between the two main rightist parties, the National Unity Party and the Democratic Party, which stayed in power for the next eight years. In 2003, the CTP and DP formed a new government, placing CTP leader Mehmet Ali Talat as the new Prime Minister. In 2005, Rauf Denktaş retired from the presidency. Talat won the presidential election, becoming the second