Turkish Cypriots likely to choose reformist president

Cyprus Turkish Cypriots will tomorrow elect a president to replace Rauf Denktash, the dominant figure in northern Cyprus politics…

CyprusTurkish Cypriots will tomorrow elect a president to replace Rauf Denktash, the dominant figure in northern Cyprus politics for almost half a century.

The 81-year-old veteran has been president of northern Cyprus seven times since 1975. A lawyer by profession, Mr Denktash began his career in 1947 in the British colonial administration. In 1957 he began working for a separate Turkish Cypriot state and achieved his objective in 1983 when the breakaway state was established.

He chose not to seek office again because a majority of his community voted last April in favour of the United Nations plan for reunification with the Greek Cypriot south of the island, divided since 1974.

Mr Denktash's successor is expected to be Mehmet Ali Talat, an advocate of reunification who convinced Turkish Cypriots to vote for the UN plan, effectively sidelining Mr Denktash. In a reversal of roles, he says he will now lead the opposition.

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Mr Talat, a former refrigerator repairman and socialist who heads the Republican Turkish Party, has been prime minister since 2003. Polls predict that he would garner 55 to 60 per cent of the vote while his nearest rival in a field of nine, Dervis Eroglu of the right-wing National Unity Party, would win 27 per cent.

Mr Talat enjoys the support of the Turkish government, formerly bestowed on Mr Denktash. But he lost out after the victory in Turkey's 2002 election of the Justice and Development Party, which is prepared to compromise to achieve a Cyprus settlement.

Mr Talat has been campaigning hard, spurred on by his party's failure to win a majority in the February parliamentary poll, compelling it to form a coalition with the Democratic Party led by Mr Denktash's son, Serdar, who opposes the UN plan.

The parliamentary poll result showed Turkish Cypriots and mainland Turks who live in northern Cyprus are divided between advocates and opponents of reunification.

Mr Talat has been accused of adopting an antagonistic approach to the Greek Cypriots, who rejected the UN plan and seek major amendments, to appeal to opponents of reunification who fear he will not take a tough line when negotiations resume, perhaps in June.