What leader for the Turkish Cypriot community?

"It is important for the future of Turkish Cypriots. We elect the leader (...) who will defend our rights."

In this election race which ends on Sunday, the outgoing Derviş Eroğlu, favorable to the reunification of Cyprus, would be closely followed by the President of the Assembly, Sibel Siber.

A total of seven candidates are vying for the said election "presidential". 176,000 voters are eligible to vote. In any case, the number on the lists of this little piece of land, which represents one third of the island.

The first results are expected in the evening. The essential task of the future leader will resume peace negotiations after 40 years of partition.

"It is important for the future of Turkish Cypriots. We elect a leader who will negotiate. This is important because he or she will defend our rights at the table "said one voter leaving the polling station.

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is not recognized by the international community. Severe restrictions have been imposed on trade and air links.

And lives largely with the help of Turkey, which contributes to 30% of its budget, and the presence of several thousand soldiers.

"Although the election campaign was calm compared to previous" says our correspondent Bora Bayraktar concluded, "there is a real competition for the leadership of the Turkish Cypriot community. These elections are especially important to rely on the agenda of the negotiations. "