Dervis Eroglu, a backer of Turkish Cypriot independence, was leading Sunday's presidential vote in northern Cyprus, results showed, which could slow talks to reunify the island and bury Turkey's hopes to join the EU.
With 32 percent of the vote counted, Eroglu was in the lead with 48.9 percent compared to incumbent leader Mehmet Ali Talat with 43.3 percent. The winning candidate requires more than 50 percent to win outright. Talat has led reunification talks with the Greek Cypriots launched in 2008.
Diplomats have said an Eroglu victory could slow the pace of UN-backed reunification talks with Greek Cypriots in the Mediterranean island, divided along ethnic lines since a Turkish invasion in 1974 triggered by a brief Greek-inspired coup.
Greek Cypriots, who represent Cyprus in the European Union and do not recognise the breakaway enclave, have said they will stop Turkey joining it as long as the island remains divided. Eroglu, who is the prime minister of northern Cyprus, has said he will continue to negotiate, but his positions are not acceptable to Greek Cypriots.
Eroglu wants more independence for each community in any peace settlement, at odds with the basis of talks until now that the island should be a loose federation of two zones with an effective central government. He has also ruled out any Greek Cypriot return to land now held by Turks. Any secessionist proposals are a red flag for Greek Cypriots, who represent Cyprus in the EU and will bar Turkey from joining the bloc until the conflict is resolved.
The conflict not only hampers Turkey's bid to join the EU, but also makes decision making on defence issues between Nato, of which Turkey is a member, and the EU problematic.
Attempts to solve the conflict failed in 2004, when Turkish Cypriots accepted a UN peace blueprint rejected by Greek Cypriots just before the island joined the EU.
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