NICOSIA (Reuters) -A moderate candidate won the Turkish Cypriot presidential election on Sunday, defeating a hardliner in a crucial vote that could help revive stalled U.N. talks on Cyprus' reunification.
Center-left politician Tufan Erhurman sailed to victory with 62.8% of the vote from just over 218,000 registered voters, defeating incumbent Ersin Tatar on a platform of renewed talks with alienated Greek Cypriots over the future of Cyprus.
Erhurman, a lawyer, has vowed to explore a federal solution — long backed by the United Nations — to end the island's nearly fifty-year division.
Tatar and Turkey, the only country to recognize breakaway Northern Cyprus, had supported a two-state policy, which the Greek Cypriots ruled out. Tatar, who came to power in 2020, received 35.8% of the vote.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan congratulated Erhurman on his victory and praised the vote as a reflection of the democratic maturity of Turkish Cypriots.
“We will continue to defend the sovereign rights and interests of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus together with our Turkish Cypriot brothers and sisters on every platform,” Erdogan said in a message on X.
Cypriot President and Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides also congratulated Erhurman and said he was committed to resuming peace talks.
Cyprus was split in 1974 during a Turkish invasion triggered by a brief Greek-backed coup, which followed sporadic fighting after the collapse of a power-sharing government in 1963. Northern Cyprus was declared in 1983 and peace talks have been stalled since 2017.
The president of Northern Cyprus has been given the mandate to represent the Turkish Cypriot community in negotiations with the Greek Cypriots, who represent Cyprus in the European Union and have a say in Turkey's ambitions to join the bloc.
Mehmet Ali Talat, Turkish Cypriot leader from 2005 to 2010, said Ankara could adapt its approach to the idea of a two-state agreement.
“Can it change? I believe so. It depends on what Turkey can get out of a solution,” Talat told the Greek Cypriot newspaper Politis in an interview published on Sunday.
(Writing by Michele Kambas; additional reporting by Ezgi Erkoyun and Tuvan Gumrukcu; editing by Christian Schmollinger and Philippa Fletcher)
