Talat re-elected as party leader

Former Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat has been re-elected leader of the Republic Turkish Party-United Forces (CTP-BG) during a vote at the party congress on Sunday.

While Talat received 727 votes from the 835 party delegates who attended the 25th Congress, the other candidate, Yasar Oduncuoglu received 93 votes, and 15 votes were considered invalid.

Talat negotiated first on Cyprus with the late Tassos Papadopulos during the 2004 Annan plan and referendum period, and later with former president Demetis Christofias in 2008 where they oversaw the opening of the Ledra Street crossing point. Talat was ousted as Turkish Cypriot leader in 2010 by Dervis Eorglu.

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.