Executive power is vested in the President and the Vice-President, who are members of the Greek and Turkish Communities respectively, and are elected by their respective communities to hold office for five years. The President of the Republic, as Head of State represents the Republic in all its official functions; signs the credentials of diplomatic envoys, and receives the credentials of the foreign diplomatic envoys; signs the credentials of delegates for negotiation of international treaties, conventions or other agreements; signs the letter relating to the transmission of the instruments of ratification of any international treaties, conventions, or agreements; confers the honours of the Republic. The Vice-President of the Republic, as Vice-Head of the State, has the right to be present at all official functions; at the presentation of the credentials of foreign diplomatic envoys; to recommend to the President the conferment of honours on members of the Turkish Community, which recommendation the President shall accept unless there are grave reasons to the contrary.
The election of the President and the Vice-President of the Republic shall be direct, by universal suffrage and secret ballot, and shall, except in the case of a by-election, take place of the same day but separately. The office of the President and of the Vice-President shall be incompatible with that of a Minister or of a Representative or of a member of a Communal Chamber or of a member of any municipal council including a Mayor or a member of the armed or security forces of the Republic or with a public or municipal office.
The President and Vice-President of the Republic are invested by the House of Representatives. The President and the Vice-President of the Republic, in order to ensure the executive power, shall have a Council of Ministers composed of seven Greek Ministers and three Turkish Ministers. [It was stipulated that one of the three major ministries, Defence, Finance, or Foreign Affairs, should be held by a Turkish Minister.]
The Ministers shall be designated respectively by the President and the Vice-President of the Republic who shall appoint them by an instrument signed by them both. The President convenes and presides over the meetings of the Council of Ministers, while the Vice- President may ask the President to convene the Council and may take part in the discussions.
The decisions of the Council of Ministers shall be taken by an absolute majority and shall, unless the right of final veto or return is exercised by the President or the Vice-President of the Republic or both, be promulgated immediately by them. The executive power exercised by the President and the Vice-President of the Republic conjointly consists of:
- determining the design and colour of the flag;
- creation or establishment of honours;
- appointment of the members of the Council of Ministers;
- promulgation by publication of the decisions of the Council of Ministers;
- promulgation or publication of any law or decision passed by the House of Representatives;
- appointments and termination of appointments as in Articles provided; (g) institution of compulsory military service;
- reduction or increase of the security forces;
- exercise of the prerogative of mercy in capital cases;
- remission, suspension, and commutation of sentences;
- right of references to the Supreme Constitutional Court and Publication of the Court Decisions; and
- address of messages to the House of Representatives.
The executive powers which may be exercised separately by the President and Vice-President include: designation and termination of appointment of Greek and Turkish Ministers respectively; the right of final veto on Council decisions and on laws concerning foreign affairs, defence or security; the publication of the communal laws and decisions of the Greek and Turkish Communal Chambers respectively; the right of recourse to the Supreme Constitutional Court; the prerogative of mercy in capital cases; and addressing messages to the House of Representatives.
