Turkish Cypriot PM claims victory in general elections

Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Talat claimed victory in Sunday's parliamentary elections in the Turkish Cypriot state in northern Cyprus.

With all the votes counted, Talat's ruling Republican Turkish Party (RTP) won 44 percent of the vote, and the major opposition National Unity Party (NUP) led by former prime minister Dervis Eroglu gained 32 percent, official results showed early Monday.

With Sunday's win, the RTP will garner 25 seats in the 50-seat parliament, but one short of a majority needed to form a single-party government in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

"This is an important success," Talat told reporters late Sunday, admitting that "we are on the verge of another coalition."

Talat, who strongly supports a UN plan to reunify Cyprus, immediately called on the Greek Cypriots leadership to work with him toward reconciliation, promising that "we will continue to putour best effort for reconciliation and a solution to the Cyprus problem."

The RTP won the last elections in December 2003 with 35.2 percent of the ballot after strongly backing the UN reunification plan, which was rejected by Greek Cypriots in an April referendum in 2004.

Eroglu's NUP fiercely opposes reunification with the Greek Cypriots on the basis of the UN plan.

Talat's junior coalition partner, the center-right Democrat Party (DP), got around 13 percent of the votes, while the Peace and Democracy Party, which is close to Talat, got 5.7 percent.

The remaining three parties were still below the 5 percent national threshold required to win seats in the parliament.

Voter turnout was about 80 percent, according to the electoral authorities.

The Turkish Cypriot authorities were forced to call Sunday's early elections after Talat's two-party coalition lost its slim parliamentary majority last May, shortly after a UN reunification plan was rejected in a referendum by the Greek Cypriot community. Turkish Cypriots overwhelmingly supported the UN plan.

Cyprus has been divided into the Greek Cypriot south and the Turkish Cypriot north since 1974. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is only recognized by Turkey, which maintains some35,000 troops there.

Source: Xinhua