North Cypriots vote as leaders talk peace
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Hürriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Nisan 18, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - Turkish Cypriots will go to the polls in northern Cyprus on Sunday in parliamentary elections that analysts say could stifle the most promising effort in decades to reunite the divided island.
The latest opinion polls give the rightist National Unity Party, or UBP, as much as a 17-point lead over the governing left-wing Republican Turkish Party, or CTP, which holds half of the 50 seats in parliament. The main campaign issues have been how to steer the peace negotiations, which were relaunched in September after four years of stagnation, and the state of the economy. Analysts say that a swing to the right by the north's 160,000 voters could sap Talat's negotiating position.
"If the UBP wins the election and assumes a more nationalist stance in the negotiations, it is conceivable that there could be some difficulties," said Erol Kaymak, a Turkish Cypriot professor of political science at Eastern Mediterranean University.
Turkish Cypriot analyst Mete Hatay said voter disillusionment with the governing party stems mainly from the CTP's perceived failure to open up the north to the world, compounded by a faltering economy.
Talat and the island's Greek Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias have both committed to working out a deal to reunify the island as a federation, and United Nations special envoy Alexander Downer said last week they had made "real progress" and "put more on paper now of an agreed nature than at any time since 1974", reported AFP.
The CTP backs Turkish Cypriot President Talat, whose five-year term expires next year, and the CTP allies favor a loose federation with the majority Greek Cypriots, but their conservative opponents back a two-state model that Greek Cypriots reject. Talat has shifted away from the hard-line nationalist stance of his predecessors in talks with the island's majority Greek Cypriots. Talat has indicated he would prefer a pro-peace party win, urging Turkish Cypriot voters to "use their common sense." "The international respect we have earned in a very difficult manner and the relations we have established because of this should not be risked," he said.
Christofias worries
A settlement would require approval by separate referendums held for the island's Greek and Turkish communities. Last month, Christofias warned that the chances of a peace deal would be "very difficult" if Talat's party loses support, reported Reuters.
"If we can't work things out with Talat, who is considered progressive, then I don't know if we could ever work things out," Christofias told reporters last month. Any solution, following several months of painstaking negotiations, would become "very difficult" if Talat's party loses significant ground at the polls, he said. "There is a great danger that Talat will not form the biggest party in the so-called elections This will lead to a setback," Christofias said.
A UN reunification plan was overwhelmingly approved by the Turkish Cypriots in an April 2004 referendum but rejected in a separate vote on the other side of the divide.
Talat took over in 2005 from long-time Turkish Cypriot President Rauf Denktaş who was seen by the international community as an intransigent nationalist. Whatever the outcome of the election, Talat will remain the chief negotiator for the Turkish Cypriots in the talks with President Demetris Christofias, the Greek Cypriot leader, according to his spokesman Hasan Erçakıca.
7 parties are standing in the polls, which open at 5 a.m. GMT and are due to close 10 hours later. The first results are expected toward midnight. The center-left CTP and a junior coalition partner, the nationalist Liberal Reform Party, together hold 30 seats in the Turkish Cypriot parliament.
Mensur Akgün also said he did not expect the Ergenekon probe to have a major effect on the elections in northern Cyprus. "People living in northern Cyprus will not be surprised to learn the fact that a deep state in Turkey had ties with northern Cyprus as there have been bloody years both in northern and Greek Cyprus in the past."
A possible UBP victory will not seriously affect relations between Turkey and northern Cyprus, Mensur Akgün, an academic at the Global Political Trend Center at Istanbul’s Kültür University, told Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review. However, if the UBP comes to power as a single party, then Greek Cyprus may blame the Turkish side for the unresolved situation in the Island, he said.
Meanwhile Mehmet Ali Talat arrived in Istanbul on Friday after visiting the U.S. as Clinton’s guest. Talat described his recent meeting with the top U.S. diplomat as "fruitful." "I believe our meeting was very fruitful. We have shown our willingness to the U.S. to find a settlement to the Cyprus problem and we have seen that our position is appreciated by the U.S. administration," Talat said.
"If the UBP wins the election and assumes a more nationalist stance in the negotiations, it is conceivable that there could be some difficulties," said Erol Kaymak, a Turkish Cypriot professor of political science at Eastern Mediterranean University.
Turkish Cypriot analyst Mete Hatay said voter disillusionment with the governing party stems mainly from the CTP's perceived failure to open up the north to the world, compounded by a faltering economy.
Talat and the island's Greek Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias have both committed to working out a deal to reunify the island as a federation, and United Nations special envoy Alexander Downer said last week they had made "real progress" and "put more on paper now of an agreed nature than at any time since 1974", reported AFP.
The CTP backs Turkish Cypriot President Talat, whose five-year term expires next year, and the CTP allies favor a loose federation with the majority Greek Cypriots, but their conservative opponents back a two-state model that Greek Cypriots reject. Talat has shifted away from the hard-line nationalist stance of his predecessors in talks with the island's majority Greek Cypriots. Talat has indicated he would prefer a pro-peace party win, urging Turkish Cypriot voters to "use their common sense." "The international respect we have earned in a very difficult manner and the relations we have established because of this should not be risked," he said.
Christofias worries
A settlement would require approval by separate referendums held for the island's Greek and Turkish communities. Last month, Christofias warned that the chances of a peace deal would be "very difficult" if Talat's party loses support, reported Reuters.
"If we can't work things out with Talat, who is considered progressive, then I don't know if we could ever work things out," Christofias told reporters last month. Any solution, following several months of painstaking negotiations, would become "very difficult" if Talat's party loses significant ground at the polls, he said. "There is a great danger that Talat will not form the biggest party in the so-called elections This will lead to a setback," Christofias said.
A UN reunification plan was overwhelmingly approved by the Turkish Cypriots in an April 2004 referendum but rejected in a separate vote on the other side of the divide.
Talat took over in 2005 from long-time Turkish Cypriot President Rauf Denktaş who was seen by the international community as an intransigent nationalist. Whatever the outcome of the election, Talat will remain the chief negotiator for the Turkish Cypriots in the talks with President Demetris Christofias, the Greek Cypriot leader, according to his spokesman Hasan Erçakıca.
7 parties are standing in the polls, which open at 5 a.m. GMT and are due to close 10 hours later. The first results are expected toward midnight. The center-left CTP and a junior coalition partner, the nationalist Liberal Reform Party, together hold 30 seats in the Turkish Cypriot parliament.
Mensur Akgün also said he did not expect the Ergenekon probe to have a major effect on the elections in northern Cyprus. "People living in northern Cyprus will not be surprised to learn the fact that a deep state in Turkey had ties with northern Cyprus as there have been bloody years both in northern and Greek Cyprus in the past."
A possible UBP victory will not seriously affect relations between Turkey and northern Cyprus, Mensur Akgün, an academic at the Global Political Trend Center at Istanbul’s Kültür University, told Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review. However, if the UBP comes to power as a single party, then Greek Cyprus may blame the Turkish side for the unresolved situation in the Island, he said.
Meanwhile Mehmet Ali Talat arrived in Istanbul on Friday after visiting the U.S. as Clinton’s guest. Talat described his recent meeting with the top U.S. diplomat as "fruitful." "I believe our meeting was very fruitful. We have shown our willingness to the U.S. to find a settlement to the Cyprus problem and we have seen that our position is appreciated by the U.S. administration," Talat said.