Nicosia urges new Turkish Cypriot president to back U.N. peace initiative

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades on Monday congratulated Ankara-backed Ersin Tatar on his presidential election victory, calling the nationalist leader to back a new U.N.-led peace initiative, AFP reported.

Turkish Cypriots voters in the breakaway north of the divided island on Sunday elected Tatar as their new president in a run-off election. Turkish-backed Tatar’s election coincides with soaring tensions in the eastern Mediterranean over hydrocarbon resources.

“The verdict of our compatriots to elect Mr Ersin Tatar as the new leader of the Turkish Cypriot community is fully respected,” AFP cited Greek Cypriot leader Anastasiades as saying. “I congratulate Mr Tatar and look forward to a familiarity meeting as soon as possible.”

Tatar and his Greek Cypriot counterpart are set to meet in the UN premises in Nicosia, Greek newspaper Kathimerini reported on Monday.

Tatar on Monday accepted President Anastasiades’ proposal for a meeting, it said, for the purposes of getting to know each other as the pair is now tasked with negotiating the future of the divided island.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey invaded the north in response to a Greek Cypriot coup aiming to unite the island with Greece. Since then, the internationally recognised Republic of Cyprus has controlled the southern two-thirds of the island, and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, only recognised by Turkey, the northern third.

Anastasiades has gone on record to say that he was “ready and determined” to respond to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ calls for a re-engagement in the peace process to ensure a resumption of talks following a three-year hiatus.

“I want to hope that Mr Tatar shows the same willingness,” Anastasiades said.

Sixty-year-old Tatar, an advocate of a two-state solution, scored a narrow victory on Sunday, winning 51.7 percent of the vote.