Turkish Cypriots Head To Polls Amid Economic Crisis

Nicosia, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Jan, 2022 ) :Turkish Cypriots are to cast their ballots Sunday for a snap legislative election in the breakaway northern third of the Mediterranean island after a campaign dominated by an economic crisis.

The self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) -- recognised only by Ankara -- has been hit hard by the Covid pandemic and the plummeting value of the Turkish lira.

Analysts said there has been a lack of interest in the poll among some 204,000 voters who were "concerned primarily with their health, safety and economic welfare".

"Compared to the previous elections in northern Cyprus, there is much less energy and enthusiasm in the air," political scientists Ahmet Sozen and Devrim Sahin wrote on the website of Italian think tank ISPI.

Cyprus has been split since 1974 when Turkish forces occupied the northern part of the island in response to a military coup sponsored by the junta in power in Greece at the time.

Unlike in previous TRNC elections, campaigning this time has focused on the territory's economic woes rather than any talk of a solution to the problem.

Hopes of resolving the intractable dispute suffered a setback when right-wing nationalist Ersin Tatar pulled off a surprise, narrow win over pro-unification candidate Mustafa Akinci in the TRNC's 2020 presidential election.

Tatar, a close ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has pressed for recognition and insisted on a two-state solution at UN-brokered talks on ending the division.

His stance was flatly rejected by the majority Greek-speaking Republic of Cyprus, a European Union member with effective control over the southern two-thirds of the island.

The Erdogan administration was accused of interference in the TRNC's 2020 presidential election, sparking resentment among many Turkish Cypriots.