Turk Cypriot Voters Back Hard-Liner
Turkish Cypriot voters on Sunday gave their veteran leader, Rauf Denktash, an overwhelming endorsement for his hard-line stand on unity talks with Greek Cypriots.
Unofficial results reported by the electoral board gave Denktash 68.6% of the ballots for the presidency of the breakaway Turkish Republic of North Cyprus, which is recognized only by Ankara.
The main opposition candidate, Ismail Bozkurt, had 30.4%, while the third contender, leftist Alpay Durduran, received less than 1%.
Denktash, a 66-year-old lawyer, called the election in March to back his uncompromising position in negotiations over the future of Cyprus, divided since a 1974 Turkish invasion after a brief coup in Nicosia engineered by the junta then ruling Greece.
U.N.-sponsored talks between the Turkish and Greek Cypriot communities broke down in February after Denktash demanded self-determination for the 160,000 Turkish Cypriots, rather than minority status with 600,000 Greek Cypriots.
Denktash received 70.4% of the votes in 1985 in the first presidential election in the Turkish region, two years after the state was proclaimed.
The presidential term is five years, and Denktash has said he will not run again.
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