Eroglu wins election in Northern Cyprus

Hardliner Dervis Eroglu, a staunch supporter of Turkish Cypriot independence, has won the presidential election conducted on Sunday in the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).

After the final count, Eroglu, the leader of the right-wing National Unity Party (UBP), garnered 50.4 percent of the vote while incumbent President Mehmet Ali Talat won 42.8 percent.

Eroglu vowed to work for a lingering peace deal. "No one must think that I will walk away from the negotiating table… The talks process will continue," he told Turkey's NTV television.

Talat has conducted 19 months of reunification talks with President Demetris Christofias, the Greek Cypriot leader.

He also promised to hold "close talks with the mother country" Turkey, which has a 35,000-strong garrison in northern Cyprus.

The turnout at the polls was put at 75 percent of the 164,000 registered voters. Five other candidates also contested the poll.

In Ankara, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Eroglu to ensure that the UN-sponsored peace talks with the Greek Cypriots continue, calling for a settlement by the end of this year.

Turkey is keen to see a settlement to the conflict, which remains a major stumbling block to its own efforts to join the European Union.

Cyprus was split in 1974 when Turkey invaded after a coup by supporters of union with Greece.

Turkey is the only country that recognizes the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=123727§ionid=351020606.