Tufan Erhurman sworn in as Turkish Cypriot leader
Tufan Erhurman was on Friday sworn in as Turkish Cypriot leader in a brief ceremony at the north’s ‘parliament’.
The ceremony was attended by Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz and the country’s ambassador in Nicosia Ali Murat Basceri, as well as high-profile Turkish Cypriots including former Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat and multiple former ‘prime ministers’.
After being sworn in with ‘deputy parliament speaker’ Fazilet Ozdenefe by his side, a rendition of the Turkish national anthem was played, and he then embraced ‘MPs’ from the legislature’s benches.
He is now expected to meet his predecessor Ersin Tatar at the official residence of the Turkish Cypriot leader, adjacent to the ‘parliament’ building, for a formal transfer of power.
Erhurman, a 55-year-old law professor who had served in the Turkish Cypriot legislature since 2013, is an advocate for a federal solution to the Cyprus problem. He led centre-left party the CTP between 2016 and Thursday night, being required to resign due to strict rules regarding political party affiliation for Turkish Cypriot leaders.
He won an unprecedented landslide victory in Sunday’s Turkish Cypriot leadership election, unseating Tatar, who supported a two-state solution to the Cyprus problem, and winning a record number of votes for a Turkish Cypriot leader at a single election.
His election comes at a time of heightened activity on the Cyprus problem, and as such, a busy few weeks await him now he has taken office.
He has stated that his first overseas visit will be to Ankara to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which is likely to take place within the coming days.
On the island, he is expected to meet new United Nations high representative Khassim Diagne, and later envoy Maria Angela Holguin, ahead of a third enlarged meeting on the Cyprus problem of the year, expected to take place in New York towards the end of November.
That meeting, just as the previous two meetings attended by Tatar, will be attended by representatives of Cyprus’ two sides, its three guarantor powers, Greece, Turkey, and the United Kingdom, and the UN.