President of the House of Representatives Yiannakis Omirou has said that the fact that Turkish Cypriot politician Mustafa Akinci is one of the two candidates to become leader of the Turkish Cypriots constitutes a clear message to Ankara.
In a written message on yesterday`s polling in the Turkish occupied areas of Cyprus, Omirou notes that the message to Ankara is to abandon its intransigent policy on the Cyprus issue and give an end to the illegal military occupation of Cyprus so that there is a solution on the island, based on international and European law.
Dervis Eroglu and Mustafa Akinci are the two candidates who will face each other in a run off polling in Turkish occupied Cyprus, next Sunday, in which Turkish Cypriots will elect their leader.
Yesterday`s polling did not give any of the seven candidates a clear lead, with 50% plus one of the votes, so incumbent Eroglu and Akinci will be the two candidates in next Sunday`s polling.
The leader of the Turkish Cypriot community acts as its representative at the UN-backed peace talks, which are expected to resume in May.
The Republic of Cyprus, a full EU member state since 2004, has been divided since the 1974 Turkish invasion. Repeated UN-backed rounds of peace talks have yet to yield results to reunite the country under a federal roof. Turkey, whose troops occupy Cyprus refuses to withdraw despite calls from numerous UN/EU and other international fora.