Former Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci on Tuesday ruled himself out of another run for office, with Turkish Cypriot leadership elections set to take place in October.

In a social media post, he said that running for office is “out of the question”.

“I believe that the highest office a politician can win is a place in the hearts of our people. After every mission I left, at each meeting with our countrymen, they made me feel the place they gave me in their hearts,” he said.

He added, “I am not seeking any other post than a place in the hearts of our people; my candidacy for president is out of the question as well”.

He said he had made the announcement after “dealing with questions from the media”, after having attended his former party the TDP’s central executive board meeting on Monday night.

There, the party’s congress had given party leader Zeki Celer and the central executive board “full authority” to act as they see fit in choosing who the party will endorse in October.

Akinci, who turned 76 years old last week, has stood to be Turkish Cypriot leader on four previous occasions, most famously beating then-incumbent Dervish Eroglu in a landslide second round to be elected to the role in 2015.

He stood for re-election in 2020 but was beaten by Ersin Tatar by just 4,422 votes in the second round.