Historic victory of Tufan Erhiurman, candidate of the Turkish Cypriot Left in the elections in the Occupied Territories. Thousands of Turkish Cypriots on the streets. Celebrations with “Tilleriotissa”. Response from Nicosia

The candidate of the Turkish Cypriot Left, Tufan Erhiurman, is the new leader of the Turkish Cypriots after his sweeping victory over the outgoing “president” Ersin Tatar. According to the official results, Erhiurman received a percentage of 62.33% against Tatar’s 35.72%, achieving the largest electoral victory in the history of the Turkish Cypriots. elections after the era of Rauf Dedkas.

After the announcement of Tufan Erhiurman’s victory, thousands of Turkish Cypriots flooded the streets, celebrating the unprecedented electoral victory and the new era in the Turkish Cypriot community.

In his celebratory speech – which took place to the sounds of “Tilleriotissa”, a traditional Cypriot song – the 55-year-old Erhiurman committed to a “very big struggle to change the current situation”. As far as the Cypriot issue is concerned, he assured that, like the previous Turkish Cypriot leaders, he will work in consultation with Turkey.

Federation and identity message

The sweeping victory of Tufan Erhuman sends a clear political message regarding the will of the Turkish Cypriots for the form of the Cypriot solution, since the Erdogan-Tatar policy of abandoning the federation and seeking a solution based on two sovereign state entities was soundly defeated.

Apart from the fact that Mr. Erhiurman has always been in favor of dialogue and rapprochement, the political agenda with which he claimed the “presidency” included his commitment to the agreed framework for the dissolution of the federation and a return to talks.

However, the electoral triumph of Tufan Erhiurman also sends a clear political message of redefining Turkish Cypriot relations with Ankara, and especially with the AKP’s policy of imposing political Islam on the community.

Calling for “respect and equality”, Erhiurman claimed the “presidency” with the need to preserve the secularism of the Turkish Cypriots and the visibility of their Cypriot identity, at the same time denouncing the tolerance of the late Ersin Tatar to the Turkish efforts to consolidate political Islam in the Turkish Cypriot society.

The Greek Cypriot reaction

The new data in the Turkish Cypriot community is expected to bring developments regarding the “frozen” talks on the Cyprus issue for seven years. Already the President of the Republic of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulidis, after congratulating the new leader of the Turkish Cypriots on his election, stated that he is looking forward to “meeting with Mr. Erhiurman as soon as possible and starting meaningful negotiations from the point where they were interrupted in Crans Montana”.

With the assessment that the Turkish Cypriots have turned their backs on the two-state solution, the President of DISY and Speaker of the Parliament of Cyprus Annita Dimitriou welcomed the election of Tufan Erhiurman, who hoped that his election would open the way for new negotiations.

AKEL General Secretary Stefanos Stefanos had a similar assessment, who in his message in Greek and Turkish wrote to X that “the Turkish Cypriot community has decided in favor of a federation solution and reunification”, requesting the initiation of efforts to restart negotiations.

The return to the dialogue table, however, cannot be done without an effort from the Greek Cypriot side as well, as Mr. Erhiurman requests specific commitments for the restart, which include timetables but also the lifting of the “isolation” of the Turkish Cypriots in the event of failure under the responsibility of the Greek Cypriot side.

The ball in Ankara

However, the main thing is the attitude that Ankara and Tayyip Erdogan will take, who until recently declared that Turkey is not going to discuss a Federation solution again.

In his first statement after the announcement of the results, however, he avoided referring to the Cyprus issue. He contented himself with praising the “democratic maturity of the Turkish Cypriots” and wishing that “these elections will be beneficial for our countries and the region”, promising to continue to defend the sovereign rights of the “TRNC”.

Less cool was the reaction of the partner of the Turkish government, Devlet Bakhceli, who called on his “TRBK” parliament – where the nationalist right is in the majority – “to meet urgently, to declare that the return to the pursuit of a federal solution is unacceptable and to decide to join the Turkish Republic”.