DISY maintains leadership with 29.01% of the vote

Cyprus elected on Sunday Turkish Cypriot academic Niyazi Kizilyurek to the European Parliament. He is the first ever Turkish Cypriot to gain a seat in the EU's legislative body.

Polls before the election predicted that the far right ELAM party would win a seat, a fact that, according to analysts drove voters to counter the move, boosting ultimately socialist EDEK.  

Ruling DISY won the race with 29.01% of the vote followed closely by opposition AKEL with 27.49%. Both parties won two seats each. DIKO took 13.81%, EDEK 10.58% and retain their MEPs. ELAM came in fifth with 8.24%, as newcomer DIPA secured 3.8%.

The elected Cypriot MEPs are Loucas Fourlas and Lefteris Christoforou (DISY), Giorgos Georgiou and Niyazi Kizilyurek (AKEL),  Costas Mavrides (DIKO), Dimitris Papadakis (EDEK).

Turnout in Sunday’s European Parliament elections in Cyprus stood at 42.8%, which was 1.17% lower than the European Elections of 2014. The turnout in the 2014 elections was 43.97%.

A total 268.602 Greek Cypriots, EU citizens and Turkish Cypriots who reside in the government controlled areas of the Republic voted in today’s elections as well as 5.604 Turkish Cypriots who reside in the north.