Turkey’s far-right leader Devlet Bahçeli has reacted angrily to the election result in the Turkish-controlled north of Cyprus, where opposition leader Tufan Erhürman won a decisive victory over Ankara-backed incumbent Ersin Tatar, calling on the Turkish Cypriot parliament to reject the result and move toward unification with Turkey.
Bahçeli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), claimed the election, held Sunday in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC), was marked by “very low turnout” and that the outcome “cannot be accepted.”
In a statement posted on the MHP’s official social media accounts, he urged the KKTC legislature to “convene immediately, declare the rejection of a return to federation on the divided island and take a decision to join the Republic of Turkey.”
His remarks came after Erhürman, leader of the Republican Turkish Party (CTP), secured 62.76 percent of the vote compared to Tatar’s 35.81 percent, according to unofficial results released by the Cypriot High Electoral Council. Turnout stood at 64.87 percent, with more than 218,000 people casting votes.
Erhürman said after his victory that “there are no losers in this election; as the Turkish Cypriot people, we have all won.”
Speaking to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency, he denied allegations that his party was hostile to Ankara, saying Turkish officials “know me well” and that “no foreign policy in [Turkish] Cyprus has ever been shaped without consultation with Turkey and it never will be under my presidency.”
Tatar, 65, enjoyed Ankara’s support and campaigned for the international recognition of Turkish Cyprus as an independent state under the two-state model. Erhürman, 55, a Nicosia-born lawyer educated at Ankara University, has pledged to reopen talks with Greek Cypriot officials aimed at achieving a federal reunification of the island.
He previously took part in negotiations led by former Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat between 2008 and 2010 and later served as prime minister of the KKTC from February 2018 to May 2019.
Cyprus has been divided since Turkey’s 1974 military intervention following a Greek-backed coup. The northern part of the island declared independence in 1983 as the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, recognized only by Ankara. Internationally recognized Cyprus joined the European Union in 2004.
Despite Turkey’s financial and political support, calls for closer integration such as Bahçeli’’s remain controversial among Turkish Cypriots, many of whom value self-governance and broader international recognition.
Ankara’s mixed reactions
In contrast to Bahçeli, his political ally, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, congratulated Erhürman, saying he hoped the results would “benefit our nations and the region.” The message marked a conciliatory tone despite Erdoğan’s open support for Tatar during the campaign.
Erhürman’s victory also drew reactions from the Turkish opposition. Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel congratulated his “brother party” the CTP, saying the Turkish Cypriot people had “reaffirmed their democracy and sent a message to those who intervened in the election to serve their own interests.”
Özel criticized what he described as Ankara’s “propaganda campaign” in favor of Tatar, saying Turkish officials should respect the will of the Turkish Cypriots.
Seven candidates ran in Sunday’s elections, though the main contest was between Erhürman and Tatar, who has governed since 2020. The presidency of Turkish Cyprus is largely ceremonial but holds symbolic weight as the elected representative of Turkish Cypriots in reunification talks with the Republic of Cyprus.
During his campaign, Tatar said he would not return to the table unless Turkish Cypriots were granted “direct flights, direct trade and direct contact” with the world.
Turkey played a visible role in the campaign, with several Turkish politicians, including former ministers Süleyman Soylu and Hulusi Akar, visiting the island to back Tatar, reviving the debate over Ankara’s influence in Turkish Cypriot politics.