A hardliner who favors even closer ties with Turkey is leading by a narrow margin against the leftist incumbent in the Turkish Cypriot leadership runoff Sunday, according to unofficial results. Turkish Cypriot broadcaster BRT says with 84% of the votes counted, Ersin Tatar secured 52.12% of the vote compared to 47.88% for Mustafa Akinci. Tatar appears to have benefited from a higher turnout in the runoff, managing to rally supporters from the approximately 200,000-strong electorate who may not have voted in the first round.
