Tufan Erhurman was officially sworn in on Friday as Turkish Cypriot leader during a brief ceremony at the occupied north’s ‘parliament’.
The event was attended by Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz, Turkey’s ambassador to Nicosia Ali Murat Basceri, and a number of senior Turkish Cypriot figures, including former leader Mehmet Ali Talat and several former ‘prime ministers’.
Following the oath, taken alongside ‘deputy parliament speaker’ Fazilet Ozdenefe, the Turkish national anthem was played, and Erhurman greeted ‘MPs’ from the chamber’s benches. He is now due to meet outgoing leader Ersin Tatar at the official residence next to the ‘parliament’ building for a formal handover.
Background and political stance
A 55-year-old law professor, Erhurman has served in the Turkish Cypriot legislature since 2013 and is known as a long-time supporter of a federal solution to the Cyprus problem. He led the centre-left Republican Turkish Party (CTP) from 2016 until his resignation on Thursday night, in line with rules prohibiting political party membership for Turkish Cypriot leaders.
He won last Sunday’s leadership election by an unprecedented landslide, unseating Tatar- who had championed a two-state model- and securing the highest vote count ever achieved by a Turkish Cypriot leader.
Upcoming agenda
Erhurman takes office amid renewed diplomatic activity on the Cyprus issue. His first overseas trip is expected to be to Ankara for talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the coming days.
Now that Erhurman has been sworn in, he is scheduled to meet the new UN high representative Khassim Diagne and later envoy Maria Angela Holguin, ahead of a third expanded meeting on the Cyprus problem due to take place in New York toward the end of November.
The meeting will include representatives from both sides, the three guarantor powers- Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom- and the United Nations.
Also read: President: Cyprus firm on SAFE defence plan and Turkey exclusion
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