...

Turkish Cypriots vote in presidential election (UPDATE)

Other News Materials 18 April 2010 23:26 (UTC +04:00)
Turkish Cypriots began voting Sunday in a presidential election that could determine the fate of the divided island's peace talks and Turkey's troubled European Union membership bid, dpa reported.
Turkish Cypriots vote in presidential election (UPDATE)

Turkish Cypriots began voting Sunday in a presidential election that could determine the fate of the divided island's peace talks and Turkey's troubled European Union membership bid, dpa reported.

Nationalist hardliner Dervis Eroglu, leader of the National Unity Party (UBP), is expected to easily win the election in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, a country only recognized by Ankara.

Eroglu has stated that if elected, he would revisit the ongoing reunification talks being conducted by incumbent President Mehmet Ali Talat.

Talat, leader of the left-leaning Republican Turkish Party (CTP), supports reunification of the island, which has been split into Greek and Turkish sides since 1974. Eroglu has said he would like to see a two-state confederation.

Turkey's troubled EU-membership drive is inextricably tied up in the Cyprus problem.

The Greek-speaking south of the island joined the bloc in 2004, and has since used its position in Brussels to frequently stymie Ankara's EU bid.

Turkey, meanwhile, is using its NATO membership to strike back, blocking enhanced cooperation between the EU and the defence alliance in protest of what it sees as Brussels' being held captive to the Cypriot agenda.

EU officials are also pressuring Turkey to open up its ports to Greek Cypriot vessels, something Ankara has so far resisted doing.

Some 164,000 Turkish Cypriots are eligible to vote. Observers say much of Eroglu's popularity can be attributed to Turkish Cypriots' sense of being betrayed by the international community after they voted in favour of a 2004 United Nations plan to reunite the island. The Greek Cypriots rejected the plan.

Dervis Eroglu became the president of Turkish Cyprus.

Latest

Latest