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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.
The TRNC Supreme Election Board reported that Erhürman had won 62.7% of the vote, while incumbent President Ersin Tatar trailed with 35.81%.
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 and turnout was 64.87%, the board said. Five other candidates, including four independent runners, competed for the top seat.
The election came at a time of heightened debate over the divided island’s future. Ankara and the TRNC under Tatar’s leadership have called 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.
“Foreign policy will be conducted in close coordination with Türkiye,” Erhürman said after the announcement.
“The elections have demonstrated the maturity of the TRNC as a state and as voters,” Türkiye’s Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz said in a social media post. “We will continue to stand by the TRNC as the motherland and guarantor country.”
Meanwhile Türkiye’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) spokesperson Ömer Çelik congratulated the TRNC on its elections.
He assured Türkiye would “always stand by the TRNC and Turkish Cypriots’ cause.”
