Northern Cyprus Heads to the Polls for Presidential Election

Kokcha News Agency – The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) is set to hold the first round of its presidential election on Sunday, October 19. A total of 218,313 voters are eligible to cast their ballots in this crucial election.

The current President, Ersin Tatar, is running as an independent candidate, while Tufan Erhürman, the leader of the main opposition Republican Turkish Party (CTP), is representing his party. Other candidates include Hüseyin Gürlek, Mehmet Hasgüler, Arif Salih Kırdağ, Ahmet Boran, and İbrahim Yazıcı, all running as independents, and Osman Zorba, the candidate of the Socialist Party of Cyprus.

As the election day approaches, the campaign activities of the 8 candidates have intensified. The capital, Nicosia, as well as other towns and villages, are adorned with posters and banners of the candidates. Campaign advertisements are frequently seen in newspapers, television, websites, and social media platforms.

The candidates are not only holding daily rallies in cities and towns but are also participating in events organized by various associations. The campaign period will continue until the end of work on October 18, when election restrictions will come into effect.

The Turkish Cypriot people held their first presidential election under their own state structure on June 20, 1976, following the 1974 Peace Operation. Over the past 44 years, they have voted twice for the President of the Turkish Federated State of Cyprus and 8 times for the President of the TRNC.

On October 19, the TRNC will go to the polls for the 9th time to elect its 6th president.

In the 2020 election, Ersin Tatar won the presidency by securing 21.67% of the votes in the first round, while Tufan Erhürman, the leader of the CTP, failed to advance to the second round. Arif Salih Kırdağ, who has run in the previous 5 presidential elections, is also competing again this year.

TRNC Presidential Elections:
In the TRNC, the president is elected by the people every 5 years, with no term limits. If no candidate secures more than 50% of the votes (an absolute majority) in the first round, the top two candidates will proceed to a second round of voting, which will be held within 7 days. The candidate who receives the highest number of votes in the second round will become the president.

The founding president of the TRNC, Rauf Raif Denktaş, led the country from 1985 to 2005, running as an independent in elections. In 2000, Denktaş was re-elected as president after the National Unity Party (UBP) candidate, Derviş Eroğlu, withdrew, leaving Denktaş as the sole candidate. Denktaş did not run in the 2005 election.

In the 2005 presidential election, Mehmet Ali Talat of the CTP was elected as the 2nd president of the TRNC with 55.59% of the votes. In 2010, Derviş Eroğlu of the UBP became the 3rd president with 50.35% of the votes.

In the 2015 election, Mustafa Akıncı was elected as the 4th president, and in the 2020 election, the current president, Ersin Tatar, was elected as the 5th president.