Athens/Istanbul, Oct 20, (dpa/GNA) – Opposition leader Tufan Erhürman, on Sunday won a clear victory in presidential elections in Northern Cyprus, which is only recognized as an independent state by Turkey.
The territory’s YSK electoral authority said Erhürman, of the centre-left CHP, secured an absolute majority with 62.8% of the vote to conservative incumbent Ersin Tatar’s 35.8%, meaning a run-off election is not necessary.
Turnout was 65% among an eligible population of some 218,000 voters.
Erhürman, who told cheering supporters that he would be a president for all, is seen as likely to chart a new diplomatic course for the isolated territory, which hosts a substantial Turkish garrison.
The outgoing incumbent, Tatar, backs a two-state solution and has for years called for the territory to be recognized internationally as the “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.” He rejects federation with Greek-dominated Cyprus.
However, Erhürman backs a return to negotiations under UN auspices on the basis of a federal solution to the long-running conflict. He is also seeking stronger links with the European Union.
The island in the eastern Mediterranean has been divided since a Greek coup and Turkish military intervention in 1974. The whole island has been an EU member as the Republic of Cyprus since 2004.
However, de facto division means that EU law applies only to the larger southern and western section.
UN troops monitor a buffer zone stretching for 180 kilometres between the two sections and dividing the capital, Nicosia, which is the world’s only divided capital.
The president of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulidis, congratulated the election winner in the evening.
“I extend my congratulations to the new leader of the Turkish Cypriot community,” Christodoulidis said in a statement carried by the RIK radio station.
“I reaffirm my firm political will and determination to continue to contribute to the resumption of substantive negotiations to resolve the Cyprus problem,” he added.
GNA