19 Apr 2010

Nationalist Eroglu elected Turkish Cypriot president

2:59 pm on 19 April 2010

Hardliner Dervis Eroglu has won the Turkish Cypriot presidential election, defeating incumbent Mehmet Ali Talat.

Mr Eroglu, who has served several terms as premier of the self-declared breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, secured 50.4% of the vote to Mr Talat's 42.8%.

Mr Eroglu said United Nations-brokered peace talks with the island's majority Greek Cypriots in the internationally recognised Republic of Cyprus would continue.

The talks launched in September 2008 are predicated on a federal solution, with distinct geographical zones for the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities.

Mr Eroglu, 72, has favoured a two-state solution - vehemently rejected as tantamount to partition by the Greek Cypriots - while Mr Talat supported reunification of the divided Mediterranean island.