ANKARA (Reuters) -Turkish nationalist leader Devlet Bahceli said the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state should hold a parliamentary vote to join Turkey, two days after Turkish Cypriots elected a candidate in favour of restarting talks with Greek Cypriots.

Bahceli, a key ally of President Tayyip Erdogan whose remarks have at times foreshadowed government policy, on Tuesday dismissed calls for a federal solution on the ethnically split island and said “Cyprus is Turkish and the homeland of Turks”.

The landslide victory of centre-left politician Tufan Erhurman as the next Turkish Cypriot president has offered hope in breaking an eight-year impasse in peace talks on the divided island of Cyprus, which has an internationally recognised Greek Cypriot government. He has pledged to restart talks wi

See Full Page