Turkish-Cypriot leader claims election victory shows support for two-state solution

Ersin Tatar's vision for Cyprus is rejected by almost all of the international community

Ersin Tatar has described the proposal of a federation-based deal for Cyprus as a “waste of time”. AFP

The leader of a Turkey-supported breakaway administration in northern Cyprus has claimed his hardline party's victory in weekend elections is an endorsement of his disputed vision for the divided island.

Ersin Tatar backs a two-state solution to end the island's 48-year division, which most of the international community — except Turkey — rejects. They favour a federation-based deal, as does the international Greek-Cypriot government in the south of the island.

Mr Tatar said about 60 per cent of Sunday's vote went to parties aligned with his proposal of “equal sovereignty” with the Greek Cypriots, adding the international community should respect the will of Turkish-Cypriot voters.

“The vision for a settlement based on sovereign equality … would boost confidence-building and trust on the island and make Cyprus a beacon of peace,” Mr Tatar said.

Cyprus was divided along ethnic lines in 1974 when Turkey invaded, after a coup aimed at union with Greece. A declaration of independence by the Turkish Cypriots in 1983 is recognised only by Turkey, which maintains more than 35,000 troops in the breakaway north.

Decades of talks have failed to make headway.

Following the most recent collapse of high-level negotiations in July 2017, Turkey and Tatar said a federation-based deal was a “waste of time.”

Greek Cypriots vehemently reject the idea, insisting that it would mark the island’s permanent partition and render it subservient to Turkey’s regional ambitions.

The old town square of Varosha where many events used to take place. The seaside resort has been under Turkish occupation since the Mediterranean island Cyprus split in two in 1974. All photos: Silvio Rusmigo / The National

The beachfront of Varosha. In its heyday, the glamorous area, in the city of Famagusta, was considered to be the crown jewel of Cyprus

An abandoned hotel with its empty swimming pool. The once bustling and colourful place became a ghost town after Turkish troops sealed off the area to its 17,000 former Greek-speaking residents in 1974

Tourists walk through Varosha. The Turkish-Cypriot administration reopened a sliver of the town this year, with plans for a wider demilitarisation of the area

Cyclists use a recently repaired road

For Lenia Nikolou, who fled her home town as a 20-year-old newlywed in 1974, visiting the places of her youth today invokes a mixture of happiness, anger and pain

Lenia Nikolou walks through the quiet streets of Varosha on a trip down memory lane

Serdar Atai says his Turkish-Cypriot father volunteered to order the inhabitants, many of whom he knew, to leave Varosha

A ruined shop lies vacant

Mr Tatar's National Unity Party received nearly 40 per cent of Sunday's vote, while three other smaller hardline parties split another 20 per cent between them.

However, turnout was only 58 per cent with traditionally left-leaning voters shunning the poll in protest against Mr Tatar’s running of the northern half of Cyprus.