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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Turkish Cypriots vote in snap polls

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NICOSIA: Turkish Cypriots on Sunday voted in a snap parliamentary election overshadowed by last year’s failure to reach a peace deal for the divided island in UN-backed talks.


More than 190,500 people are registered to vote in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).


The vote comes ahead of presidential polls later this month in the internationally recognised Greek-majority Republic of Cyprus with peace efforts on hold until both sets of elections are over.


Polling stations opened at 06:00 GMT and closed at 16:00 GMT.


The election in the northern third of Cyprus comes six months after efforts to reunify the island collapsed at a UN-hosted peace summit in Switzerland over a number of disputes, including the withdrawal of Turkey’s 45,000 troops.


The TRNC, whose statehood is only recognised by Turkey, is currently governed by a coalition of the right-wing National Unity Party (UBP) and its junior partner the Democratic Party (DP).


Analysts say the DP of Serdar Denktas — son of late TRNC founder and hardline leader Rauf Denktas — could fall under the five per cent threshold due to intra-party disputes.


The UBP and the pro-solution Republican Turkish Party (CTP) are the other major parties in the election, followed by the Peoples’ Party (HP) of Kudret Ozersay — a former negotiator in peace talks with the Greek Cypriots.


The election, originally planned for July, were brought forward after tensions in the ruling coalition and the opposition pressed for snap polls.


Analysts say a coalition government is the most likely outcome because no one party is likely to win an absolute majority in the 50-seat parliament.


The Social Democracy Party (TDP) of Turkish Cypriot president Mustafa Akinci — regarded as strongly pro-solution — and the newly established far-right Rebirth Party (YDP) founded by settlers of Turkish origin are also running in the election.


“Every election, like every new year and every new day is a new beginning. I hope and wish that this will be a good beginning for our community,” Akinci told reporters after casting his vote.


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