2020 Northern Cypriot presidential election

2020 Northern Cypriot presidential election

← 2015 11 October 2020 (first round) 18 October 2020 (second round) 2025 →
Turnout	58.22% (first round) 67.29% (second round)
Candidate Ersin Tatar Mustafa Akıncı Party UBP Independent Popular vote 67,322 62,910 Percentage 51.69% 48.31%
Second round results by district
President before election Mustafa Akıncı Independent Elected President Ersin Tatar UBP

Presidential elections were held in Northern Cyprus on 11 October 2020 alongside a constitutional referendum, with a run-off held on 18 October 2020.^[1] They were originally scheduled to take place on 26 April 2020,^[2] but were postponed in March 2020 for six months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[3] No candidate won a majority of votes in the first round.

The two candidates contesting the second round were Mustafa Akıncı, the incumbent president running as an independent candidate and supporting a federal solution to the Cyprus dispute, and Ersin Tatar, the Prime Minister, running as the National Unity Party candidate, and opposing a federal solution in favour of a two-state solution. During his first term in office after being elected in 2015, Akıncı pursued a relationship with Turkey on the basis of Northern Cyprus not becoming a "sub-administration", whilst Tatar deemed Akıncı's stance too belligerent and promised to repair relations. The elections have been marked by controversies surrounding allegations and reports of interference from the Turkish government, with Akıncı claiming he was threatened by Turkish authorities in an attempt to force him to withdraw his candidacy. Five days before the first round, Tatar announced a partial reopening of the ghost town of Varosha, sparking international condemnation and the fall of his cabinet after the junior partner in the coalition withdrew from the government.

Despite the parties of candidates receiving lower votes in the first round predominantly supporting Mustafa Akıncı, including the Republican Turkish Party (CTP), Tatar won a narrow victory in the second round and thus became the 5th President of Northern Cyprus. His victory, which was the closest ever margin in the history of Northern Cyprus, was welcomed by most political parties in Turkey.