MHP leader calls on Turkish Cyprus to join Türkiye

ANKARA

Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli has dismissed the recent presidential election in Turkish Cyprus, urging authorities to consider formally joining Türkiye.

"After 81 Düzce, Turkish Cyprus becoming the 82nd has now become a matter of life and death," Bahçeli told MHP lawmakers at a weekly parliamentary meeting, referring to Düzce as Türkiye's last province by license plate code.

He called on the Turkish Cypriot parliament to convene urgently, declare the election result unacceptable and decide to join Türkiye.

"Turkish Cyprus is Turkish, it is the homeland of the Turks," Bahçeli said. "It is my sincere hope that everyone will come to their senses, carefully analyze the elections in Turkish Cyprus and carefully interpret how the path to federalism, littered with landmines, will affect our country and our region."

Turkish Cypriots on Oct. 19 elected Tufan Erhürman, 55, who campaigned on reviving talks for a two-zone federation with Greek Cypriots after an eight-year stalemate.

Erhürman won by a landslide, receiving nearly 63 percent of the vote, compared with incumbent Ersin Tatar’s roughly 36 percent. Nearly 65 percent of 218,000 registered voters cast ballots. The remaining votes were split among five minor candidates.

At a victory rally, Erhürman told supporters the election was a win for all Turkish Cypriots regardless of party, adding that any steps to revive Cyprus peace efforts would be coordinated with the Turkish government.

"The security and future of Cyprus are one and the same as the security and future of the Turkish republic," Bahçeli said.

In remarks on Oct. 20, the MHP leader questioned the election’s legitimacy, citing what he described as low voter turnout.