Mustafa Akinci - the new President of Northern Cyprus. Wikimedia. Public domain.A carnivalesque celebration prevails in the dusty streets of northern Nicosia this evening. It is the 26th of April and people who have been anxiously waiting for the election results in front of the office of the presidential candidate Mustafa Akıncı finally let their hair down. Former mayor of Nicosia and a member of the parliament, the left-wing leader Mr. Akıncı won 60.4% of the votes, defeating the incumbent right wing president Derviş Eroğlu.
“We made it brother” a young woman exclaims. Greek Cypriots pass through the border and hug their Turkish Cypriot compatriots. There is a lot of crying and dancing going on. Even people who are not well known for their dancing skills, such as members of the parliament, former ministers and academics perform rather striking dance figures in front of the cameras. People shout altogether: “Kıbrıs’ta Barış Engellenemez!” (Peace cannot be prevented in Cyprus!)
The euphoria continues throughout the night as more and more Cypriots fill the İnönü Square waiting for their president. People continue drinking, singing and chanting slogans. Friends from Turkey and Greece keep calling and sending messages, congratulating Akıncı. North Cyprus elections epitomize the wind of change that is sweeping Eastern Mediterranean democracies these days, where entrenched political parties are crumbling, paving the way to the rise of left wing parties such as Syriza in Greece and the Kurdish backed HDP in Turkey.
