Tufan Erhürman has become the new leader of the Turkish Cypriot community.
The president of the Republican Turkish Party achieved a sweeping first-round victory in the “presidential election” in occupied northern Cyprus, defeating right-wing incumbent Ersin Tatar.
According to the “unofficial” final results announced by the “president” of the “supreme electoral commission,” Bertan Özerdag, after counting all 777 ballot boxes, Tufan Erhürman received 62.76%, Ersin Tatar 35.81%, Arif Salih Kırdag 0.33%, Osman Zorba 0.32%, Ibrahim Yazici 0.24%, Mehmet Hasgüler 0.22%, Ahmet Boran 0.14% and Hüseyin Gürlek 0.19%.
The final participation rate in today’s “election” was 64.87%.
With the announcement of the results, Erhürman’s supporters began celebrating at the Republican Turkish Party (RTP) headquarters, with the new Turkish Cypriot leader’s victory speech and a supporters’ rally scheduled for 21:30 in occupied Nicosia.
In his first statement, the new leader of the Turkish Cypriots thanked everyone who participated in the “electoral” process, regardless of their “vote.”
“Our people must know this: This election has no losers. As the Turkish Cypriot people, we all won together,” he stated. “We said that we would proceed together, win together, and govern together. We have kept our first two promises. We will keep our third promise together as well,” he added.
Erhürman thanked members of the CTP, his partners from the Communal Democracy Party (CDP), the independent “MPs” who supported him, and personally thanked Serdar Denktaş. He noted that he received “votes” from supporters of other parties as well, interpreting the result as a mandate for broader consensus.
Committing to impartiality, he symbolically announced his departure from his party leadership. “From this moment, I am no longer the President of the Republican Turkish Party. I give my word that I will be the president of all my citizens with complete impartiality,” he said.
In closing, he invited all Turkish Cypriots to a common celebration “to celebrate our brotherhood together.” Regarding relations with Turkey, he assured that he would exercise his duties, especially in foreign policy, in close consultation with Ankara.
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