When moderate opposition candidate Tufan Erhurman decisively won a presidential election in the breakaway state of Northern Cyprus in October, it gave a major boost to hopes that U.N.-sponsored reunification talks on the disputed island may soon restart.
Those negotiations broke down in 2017, leaving in place the island’s longstanding division between a largely Turkish Cypriot breakaway state in Northern Cyprus—recognized only by Turkey—and the predominantly Greek Cypriot south, controlled by the internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus.
That division along ethnic lines has been complicating a number of issues off of the island recently, including maritime boundary disputes between Turkey, Greece and the Republic of Cyprus, and energy projects linking the island with Greece and Israel. It has also clouded attempts by the European Union to define its relationship with Turkey—an increasingly powerful regional power—in the context of Brussels’ broader security architecture.
