Voters in Northern Cyprus elect right-wing nationalist backed by Turkey

Northern Cyprus elects a president with close ties to Erdogan. (Wikimedia Commons)

Voters in Northern Cyprus voted for conservative politician Ersin Tatar as president in an election held October 18. Tatar defeated incumbent Mustafa Akinci with 52 percent of the vote in a runoff. 

Tatar has a close relationship with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose time in office has seen increasing regional instability. Since elected president in 2014, Turkey’s relationship with Greece has progressively deteriorated, with the island of Cyprus serving as one of the main points of contention between the two countries.

Since a military coup in 1974, Greece has controlled the southern two-thirds of Cyprus, and Turkey has controlled the northern third. The United Nations has consistently recognized the Greek portion of the island as the official Republic of Cyprus. The northern third declared its independence from the Republic of Cyprus in 1975. Ten years later, Northern Cyprus held elections and established a constitution. Turkey remains the only state to have recognised Northern Cyprus.

Since the island’s division, European countries have pressed to reunify Cyprus. The European Union has regularly involved itself in the matter, as Greece and Cyprus, though not Turkey, are both members. 

Tatar’s election has renewed calls to reunify the island, although his hardline stance likely will not result in any long-term solutions. Tatar supports a divided-island solution, while the incumbent, Akinci, had before his defeat fought for unification while maintaining two separate systems of governance.

After his victory, Tatar released a statement, saying,“We deserve independence. We are fighters. We are fighting to exist within the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.” The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is the official name for the northern third of the island occupied by Turkey.

The government of the Greek portion of the island criticized these statements and signed a joint declaration along with Egypt condemning Turkey’s efforts to explore the Mediterranean Sea around the island in hopes of finding energy resources. 

Erdogan expressed his approval for the election’s outcome on Twitter, saying that Turkey would continue to support the “Turkish Cypriot people.” 

Tatar’s election will certainly raise concerns regarding increased nationalism within Turkey and amongst its allies. With prospects of a reunified Cyprus now diminished, UN and other officials alike must now explore alternate options, be they military or diplomatic, so as to restore peace and stability to the region.