The Republican Turkish Party (CTP) is heading into an extraordinary congress to elect a new party leader with three confirmed candidates, following the resignation of Tufan Erhürman, who was elected the new Turkish Cypriot leaderon 19 October.
On Thursday, Asim Akansoy announced his candidacy, joining two other party figures already in the race. Sila Uçar İncirli, a member of the Nicosia constituency and daughter of former influential CTP Secretary General Najı Talat Uçar, was the first to declare her candidacy. She is joined by Erkut Siahali, current CTP Secretary General and Famagusta MP.
Today marks the final day for candidate submissions, and no fourth contender is expected, despite the name of Kyrenia Mayor Murat Senkul being mentioned. The extraordinary CTP congress is scheduled for 30 November.
Numbers and party dynamics
The Kıbrıs Postası recently highlighted the CTP’s internal power dynamics, referring to the election for Secretary General held last April. At that time, all three current presidential candidates vied for the position, with Erkut Siahali winning in the second round by a single vote over İncirli, reflecting the balance of influence within the Central Committee.
However, the dynamics among the wider CTP membership tell a different story. In the 29th regular party congress on 6 April, where all members voted for the new Central Committee, the three presidential hopefuls received widely varying votes: İncirli came third with 1,175 votes, Akansoy 17th, and Siahali 21st. This indicates that while İncirli enjoyed strong grassroots support, she narrowly lost in the smaller Central Committee vote.
A source closely following Turkish Cypriot politics told Politis that no firm conclusions can be drawn from the 29th congress. They emphasised that voting for the party president differs from voting for committee members. According to the source, Akansoy represents the CTP’s traditional left wing, Siahali is a left-leaning political figure, and İncirli belongs to the reformist faction. The party is reportedly shifting towards social democracy, while its youth wing retains a radical orientation.