Erhurman wins Turkish Cypriot north presidency, eyes UN talks

Tufan Erhurman decisively won the presidential election in the breakaway Turkish Cypriot north on Sunday, electoral officials said, defeating incumbent Ersin Tatar in a vote widely seen as a test of whether efforts to revive reunification talks with the Greek Cypriot south can resume. The Turkish Cypriot High Electoral Council gave Erhurman 62.76 percent of the vote to Tatar’s 35.81 percent, with turnout reported at about 65 percent of roughly 218,000 registered voters.

Erhurman, 55, led the centre left Republican Turkish Party and campaigned on restarting United Nations mediated negotiations toward a federal settlement that would reunify the island under a bi zonal, bi communal framework. Tatar, 65, who was supported by the Turkish government, had advocated formal recognition of two separate states for the island, a position rejected by the internationally recognised Republic of Cyprus and by the European Union.

At a victory rally, Erhurman said the result was a win for all Turkish Cypriots and pledged to consult Ankara on foreign policy. He said, "There are no losers in this election. We, the Turkish Cypriot people, have won together," and added he would exercise his...