Turkish Cypriots vote in election

NICOSIA, Jan 7 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Cypriots voted on Sunday in an election which analysts will closely examine for signals about the possibility of restarting negotiations for an end to the over 40 years partition of Cyprus.

The vote was for 50 members of the so-called parliament of a breakaway state that is only recognized by Turkey.

A change in the electoral system, which gave the right to voters to choose candidates among several parties, will result in a delay in the counting.

The electoral office said first official results are not expected before Monday morning but it promised that it will be able to announce final results before early afternoon.

The results are anxiously awaited by the United Nations, which preside over the Cyprus negotiations, and also by both Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriot moderates for clues as to the possibility of resuming the reunification negotiations which collapsed in July.

The latest UN-mediated bid to put an end to the division of the Mediterranean Sea Island failed in July in Switzerland when the Greek and Turkish sides did not agree on security arrangements. Each side blamed the other for the failure.

Turkey maintains troops in Cyprus since it occupied its northern part in 1974, in reaction to a coup by the then military rulers of Greece. Enditem