Who's Who in Algeria's Disputed Election

People carry their national flags as they protest over President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's decision to postpone elections and extend his fourth term in office, in Algiers, Algeria March 15, 2019. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
People carry their national flags as they protest over President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's decision to postpone elections and extend his fourth term in office, in Algiers, Algeria March 15, 2019. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
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Who's Who in Algeria's Disputed Election

People carry their national flags as they protest over President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's decision to postpone elections and extend his fourth term in office, in Algiers, Algeria March 15, 2019. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
People carry their national flags as they protest over President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's decision to postpone elections and extend his fourth term in office, in Algiers, Algeria March 15, 2019. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra

Algeria faces a presidential election on Thursday that is rejected by the opposition.

These are some of the main players.

THE ARMY

Algeria's army chief of staff Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaed Salah has become the most powerful figure in Algeria this year.

Born in 1940, he fought in Algeria's war of independence from France and cemented his role as a top general in the 1990s civil war, before then-president Abdelaziz Bouteflika named him army chief in 2004.

Though the military has long been at the center of the Algerian state, it has used the protests to purge rival factions including the once all-powerful internal security department.

THE OPPOSITION

The protest movement emerged in the spring as hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated when it became clear Bouteflika would seek a fifth term.

Known as the Hirak - Arabic for 'movement' - the protesters have no formal leadership and organize themselves through discussions on social media.

They demand that the old guard give up power, an end to corruption, and that the military quit politics. They reject any election while the old guard retain power as meaningless.

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES

The electoral commission, a theoretically independent body, approved five of the 23 candidates who applied to run in the election. They are:

Abdelmadjid Tebboune, once a close Bouteflika ally, was prime minister for less than three months in 2017 but was sacked when he tried to take on powerful business figures accused of corruption.

Ali Benflis, prime minister from 2000-03, ran unsuccessfully for president twice against Bouteflika.

Former culture minister Azzeddine Mihoubi, who is backed by the FLN, Algeria's long-standing ruling party, despite its earlier statements that it would not support any candidate.

The former tourism minister, Abdelkader Begrine, had previously held a role in a moderate Islamist movement.

Abdelaziz Belaid, a former FLN central committee member, later set up El Mostakbal Movement party and was defeated by Bouteflika in the 2014 presidential election.

THE OUSTED OLD GUARD

Bouteflika, also a veteran of Algeria's war of independence, helped end the 1990s conflict between the state and extremist militants and was made president in 1999.

After he was pushed from power in April, his brother and de facto regent Said Bouteflika was sentenced to 15 years in prison for conspiring against the army.

Their main rival in the power structure, internal security chief Mohamed Mediene, was jailed alongside him.

While many other Bouteflika allies are also on trial or in prison, some of his network retain powerful positions, including interim president Abdelkadar Bensalah and prime minister Noureddine Bedoui.



Greeks Mourn, Turks Celebrate Anniversary of Invasion that Split Cyprus

A woman walks next to the graves of soldiers killed in the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus at the Tymvos Makedonitissas military cemetery in Nicosia, Cyprus July 20, 2025. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou
A woman walks next to the graves of soldiers killed in the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus at the Tymvos Makedonitissas military cemetery in Nicosia, Cyprus July 20, 2025. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou
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Greeks Mourn, Turks Celebrate Anniversary of Invasion that Split Cyprus

A woman walks next to the graves of soldiers killed in the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus at the Tymvos Makedonitissas military cemetery in Nicosia, Cyprus July 20, 2025. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou
A woman walks next to the graves of soldiers killed in the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus at the Tymvos Makedonitissas military cemetery in Nicosia, Cyprus July 20, 2025. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou

Greek and Turkish Cypriots marked on Sunday the 51st anniversary of Türkiye’s 1974 invasion of Cyprus, an event that split the island and remains a source of tension between NATO partners Greece and Türkiye.

Air raid sirens sounded across the southern Greek Cypriot-populated parts of Cyprus at 5:30 a.m. (0230 GMT), the exact time when Turkish troops landed on the northern coast in a military intervention triggered by a brief Greece-inspired coup.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan was due to attend celebrations in north Cyprus, a breakaway state recognized only by Ankara.

Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides attended a memorial service in the south to commemorate the more than 3,000 people who died in the Turkish invasion, which also drove tens of thousands of Greek Cypriots from their homes.

"Despite those who want us to forget, we will never forget, or yield an inch of land," Christodoulides said, calling celebrations in the north "shameful".

Efforts to reunify Cyprus as a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation have repeatedly failed amid deep-rooted mistrust and competing visions for the island's future.

Before the invasion, clashes between Turkish and Greek Cypriots saw Turkish Cypriots withdraw from a power-sharing government and prompted the deployment of UN peacekeepers in 1964.

Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar said the invasion had brought "peace and tranquility" to the island following the "darkest years" for Turkish Cypriots.

"Their (Greek Cypriots) goal was to destroy the Turkish Cypriots," he said in a video address posted on X.

The simmering conflict complicates Türkiye's ambitions to foster closer ties with the European Union, of which both Cyprus and Greece are members.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said last week the two sides would continue discussions on trust-building measures, warning that "there is a long road ahead".