Sener Levent to stand as Euro MP

TURKISH Cypriot journalist, Sener Levent, yesterday announced his candidacy for the European Parliamentary elections next June.

The editor of Africa newspaper in the occupied north has become the first Cypriot to officially announce his candidacy for the euro-elections.

Levent said it was more important for him to be a candidate on behalf of Cyprus rather than becoming a European deputy.

He explained that from colonial times, Turks voted for Turks and Greeks voted for Greeks, but that nothing was to be gained from this separation.

“Now for the first time, there is a great opportunity to vote together in a unified election for a common state. We should start thinking as one…trust each other and vote for each other,” said Levent.

He said the euro-elections would give Cypriots the chance to prove to what extent they felt Cypriot.

Regarding the practicalities of his candidacy, Levent said he would announce his decisions when the moment was right, probably after the December elections in the north.

In effect, this meant he would either be a candidate with a Greek Cypriot party, or as an independent, or as part of a new team set up for this purpose.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.