Early results show that leftist Mustafa Akinci has swept to victory in the Turkish Cypriot presidential poll. <br /><br /> According to election commission officials, he has secured 60.3 percent of the vote, beating incumbent Dervis Eroglu – a conservative elected five years ago. <br /><br /> Akinci – standing as an independent – has promised to push harder for a peace deal in ethnically-split Cyprus.<br /><br /> Peace talks were suspended last October, when Greek Cypriots walked out of the process in a row over Turkish rights to explore for natural gas off northern Cyprus. <br /><br /> Cyprus is represented internationally and in the EU by the Greek Cypriot government, which controls the southern portion of the island. <br /><br /> Only Turkey recognises the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
