The Communal Chambers were two parallel legislative bodies in Cyprus; one for the Greek Cypriot community and one for the Turkish Cypriot community. The Greek Chamber was abolished in 1965.
The Chambers were established under the 1960 constitution,[1] with the first elections held on 7 August 1960. The Patriotic Front won a large majority in the Greek chamber and the Cyprus Turkish National Union won all the seats in the Turkish chamber.[2]
Following the withdrawal of the Turkish community from national politics in December 1963, in March 1965 the remaining Greek members of the House of Representatives passed a law abolishing the Greek Communal Chamber and transferring its responsibilities to the House of Representatives.[1] A new Ministry of Education and Culture was established to take responsibility for educational and cultural issues.[1]
In 1967 members of the Turkish chamber joined with the 15 Turkish former members of the House of Representatives to establish a new Turkish Cypriot Legislative Assembly. The chamber was never officially dissolved, although its powers have not been exercised in the Republic of Cyprus since the 1974 division of the island.[3]
Article 87 of the constitution outlined the responsibilities of the chambers:[4]