Main opposition leader Tufan Erhürman of the Republican Turkish Party (CTP) won Sunday’s presidential election in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), according to unofficial results.
“Foreign policy will be conducted in close coordination with Türkiye,” Erhürman said after the announcement.
The TRNC Supreme Election Board reported that with 735 of 777 ballot boxes counted so far, Erhürman had 62.8% of the vote, while incumbent President Ersin Tatar trailed with 35.77%.
Polling for the first round of the presidential election began on Sunday morning.
TRNC voters began casting ballots at 8 am (0500GMT) and cast their ballots until 6 pm (1500 GMT) at 777 polling stations across the country.
The TRNC has 218,313 eligible voters.
Mehmet Hasgüler, Arif Salih Kırdağ, Ahmet Boran and Ibrahim Yazıcı ran as independent candidates, while Osman Zorba represented the Cyprus Socialist Party.
A candidate will be elected president in the first round if they receive more than 50% of the vote (an absolute majority).
If no candidate achieves an absolute majority, the top two candidates receiving the most votes in the first round will advance to the second round, to be held within seven days.
The candidate receiving the highest number of votes in the second round will assume the presidential seat.
The election comes at a time of heightened debate over the island’s future. Ankara and the TRNC under Tatar’s leadership continue to call for a two-state solution, stressing the need for international recognition of the TRNC and the equal political rights of Turkish Cypriots. Tufan Erhürman, on the other hand, is sympathetic to the resumption of talks with Greek Cypriots on a bicommunal federation in Cyprus, instead of a sovereign state.
As he cast his vote, Tatar told journalists that a long election campaign period had come to an end and that much had been expressed during the process. “But people also have their consciences. When it comes to matters of conscience, our people have certainly made their judgment. The Turkish Cypriot people are, of course, enlightened, cultured and rooted in national values and spirituality,” he said.
Tatar added that, “The Greek Cypriot administration of Southern Cyprus and its backers continue to impose every kind of injustice on the Turkish Cypriot people.”
“We are fighting against a mindset that is trying to impose a forced solution and deprive us of our sovereign rights here,” he said.
Highlighting the two-state solution policy pursued over the past five years, Tatar said the TRNC had made its presence known to the international community, with support from President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Turkish government throughout the process.
He recalled Erdoğan’s address at the United Nations, in which the president said there are two states in Cyprus and called for the recognition of the TRNC, describing this as a significant achievement.
Wishing for the election results to be beneficial, Tatar said, “What matters most is the Turkish Cypriot people’s struggle for existence on these lands, their prosperity in the coming period and their rightful, legal, and sovereign future as one of the two constituent peoples of Cyprus.”
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