by Our Foreign Desk

HOPES of progress towards a resolution of the ethnic division of Cyprus soared yesterday when Greek Cypriot politicians welcomed Mustafa Akinci’s election as president of the unrecognised Turkish breakaway state.

Mr Akinci trounced hard-line incumbent Dervis Eroglu with 60.5 per cent of the vote in Sunday’s poll on a 64 per cent turnout.

The victor pledged to focus his energy on breaking decades of stalemate and achieving an accord to reunify the island.

“We achieved change and my policy will be focused on reaching a peace settlement,” the new leader told thousands of supporters at a victory rally.

“This country cannot tolerate any more wasted time.”He said that he had already spoken to de jure Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and that they would meet soon.

“Anastasiades and I are the same generation ... if we can’t solve this now, it will be a tremendous burden on future generations,” Mr Akinci warned, adding that the electorate had answered those who accused him of being a sellout to Greek Cypriots.

He told communist Progressive Party of Working People general secretary Andros Kyprianou that he looked forward to the co-operation of all forces in the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities to secure an agreed solution.

Mr Kyprianou pledged his party’s backing for every effort to achieve a solution in line with the agreed framework. Both men agreed to maintain an open line of communication.

Mr Anastasiades tweeted late on Sunday that Mr Akinci’s election victory was “a hopeful development for our common homeland.”

Cyprus was divided in 1974 when Turkey invaded after President and Archbishop Makarios was overthrown by supporters of Greece’s far-right junta of colonels who sought the near annexation of the island.

Mr Akinci built his political reputation during a 14-year stint as mayor of the Turkish Cypriot half of the capital Nicosia until the early 1990s. During that time, he collaborated with his Greek Cypriot counterpart on an architectural plan for a future reunified capital that earned international accolades.

He supports the island’s reunification as a federation, rather than Mr Eroglu’s pursuit of a Turkish Cypriot state linked loosely to the rest of the island.