Prospects for Change in Cyprus
The Turkish Cypriot community is set to elect a new leader on October 19, with a highly contested race between current leader Ersin Tatar and Tufan Erhurman of the Republican Turkish Party.
The question remains, what prospects for real change does this election offer? Ersin Tatar's campaign focuses on the right to self-determination through a two-state solution based on "sovereign equality".
He argues that the original Cypriot constitution was itself a form of federation which collapsed within three years, and that all subsequent attempts over the past 62 years to revive that model have failed.
Tatar maintains that the future must lie in two sovereign states coexisting on the island, making the two-state solution in Cyprus not irrational.
Author's summary: Election in Cyprus may bring change.