Communist-Inspired Candidate Wins Cyprus Election
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
NICOSIA, Cyprus — Communist-rooted Dimitris Christofias won Cyprus’s crucial presidential runoff yesterday, and supporters flooded onto the streets of Nicosia waving Cypriot flags and banners of Che Guevara. Final results showed Mr. Christofias won with 53.36% of the vote, against 46.64% for conservative rival Ioannis Kasoulides, who conceded defeat and pledged his support in efforts to reunify the divided country.
Reunification of the Greek Cypriot south and the Turkish Cypriot north would remove one of the obstacles to Turkey’s efforts to join the European Union. It would also ease strong objections to Kosovo’s new independence among Greek Cypriots who fear it would act as a precedent for north Cyprus. Mr. Christofias becomes the European Union’s only communist-rooted leader.
