⁍ Tatar is a supporter of separate administrations on the Mediterranean island which split after a 1974 Turkish invasion.

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⁍ The election result may also affect negotiations over the contested maritime claims in the eastern Mediterranean.

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⁍ Turkey, which is the only country to recognise North Cyprus as an independent state, said recently that separate administrations were the only solution.

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– The leader of a breakaway region of Cyprus has been elected president of the Mediterranean island, which has been split between a Greece-controlled region and a Turkey-controlled region since 1974. Reuters reports that Ersin Tatar, prime minister of the North Cyprus state, won Sunday’s runoff election with 52% of the vote. Incumbent Mustafa Akinci, 72, had been a supporter of reunification. As well as having an impact on inter-island talks, the election result may also affect negotiations over the contested maritime claims in the eastern Mediterranean, which has Turkey at odds with Greece and Cyprus. Turkey, which is the only country to recognize North Cyprus as an independent state, said recently that separate administrations were the only solution after United Nations-mediated peace negotiations between Cyprus and North Cyprus broke down in 2017. In his victory speech, Tatar thanked Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, with whom he has strong relations. “They will never tear the ties between us and Turkey,” he said. “In light of the approval we received, it is the preference of our people in all disputes to lay claim to our own state, to lay claim to our land and lay claim to the guarantorship of Turkey,” Tatar added. “Yes, we are open to an agreement with Cyprus but the Turkish Cypriot people will accept the terms of this agreement with a free will.”