Ankara on Tuesday welcomed the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) parliament’s approval Tuesday of a resolution on a two-state solution for the Cyprus issue, ahead of elections on the island.
“This decision is a powerful manifestation of the Turkish Cypriot people’s determination to protect their sovereignty, identity and future,” Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz wrote on social media.
“The federation model, which has failed to yield results for half a century, is now exhausted,” he added.
A realistic, sustainable and fair solution on the island is possible only on the basis of two sovereign and equal states, Yılmaz said, extending his congratulations to the members of the TRNC parliament for taking this stand for the future, peace and dignity of the Turkish Cypriot people.
Türkiye’s support for Turkish Cypriots’ will to make their own decisions and determine their own future will continue, he added.
The TRNC adopted the resolution by a majority vote.
Tatar and Ankara are on the same page regarding talks for the future of the Mediterranean island, defending the TRNC as a separate, sovereign state on the island, with the south recognized by other countries as the Republic of Cyprus.
The island has been mired in a decadeslong dispute between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the U.N. to achieve a comprehensive settlement.
Ethnic attacks starting in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety. In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece’s annexation led to Türkiye’s military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence.
As a result, the TRNC was founded in 1983. The country is fully recognized only by Türkiye, which does not recognize the Greek Cypriot administration in the south.
The island has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, but negotiations have been stalled since 2017.
TRNC elections
Meanwhile, eight candidates who will compete in the first round of the presidential election to be held on Sunday in the TRNC have entered an intense campaign period.
The incumbent Tatar will run as an independent candidate in the first round of the election, while Tufan Erhürman, chairman of the main opposition Republican Turkish Party (CTP), will run as his party’s candidate.
In the first round of the presidential election, Hüseyin Gürlek, Mehmet Hasgüler, Arif Salih Kırdağ, Ahmet Boran and Ibrahim Yazıcı will run as independent candidates, while Osman Zorba will run as the candidate of the Cyprus Socialist Party.
With the election just days away, the campaigns of the presidential candidates are bustling with activity. Squares in all cities and villages, especially the capital Nicosia, are decorated with posters and banners of the candidates, while advertisements for those participating in the first round are frequently appearing in newspapers, television channels, websites and social media accounts.
Along with daily rallies in cities and towns, the candidates are also taking part in events organized by associations.
The candidates’ propaganda and campaign period in the TRNC elections will continue until the end of business hours on Oct. 18, when the election bans start.
The Turkish Cypriot people conducted their first presidential election within their own state since the 1974 Peace Operation on June 20, 1976.
In 44 years, Turkish Cypriots have voted twice for the Presidency of the Turkish Federated State of Cyprus and eight times for the Presidency of the TRNC.
The people of the TRNC will go to the polls for the ninth time in the Oct. 19 presidential election to choose the sixth president to lead the country.
Tatar, who won the 2020 TRNC election and became president; CTP Chairman Erhürman, who failed to advance to the second round after receiving 21.67% of the vote in the first round; and Arif Salih Kırdağ, who ran in five previous presidential elections, will compete against each other again in this election.
In the TRNC, the president is elected by popular vote every five years and has no term limits.
The president is elected if they recieve 50% plus 1 of the vote in the first round (a simple majority). If no candidate achieves a simple majority, the top two candidates will compete in a second round of elections, to be held within seven days. The candidate with the most votes in the second round becomes the president.
