By Tom Cleaver

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday said the Turkish Cypriots’ will “is highly respected by us” as federal Cyprus advocate Tufan Erhurman was sworn in as Turkish Cypriot leader.

“Our relations with North Cyprus will continue as they have been until now under the AK Party government,” he told journalists on a flight back to Turkey from Jordan and referencing his party’s 23-year stint in power so far.

He added that it is “absolutely possible for us to look upon North Cyprus with suspicion”.

“This is a significant election, and the will of the Turkish Cypriots is highly respected by us. We did not invest so much in North Cyprus for nothing,” he said.

On this point, he said that “for years, we used to go to North Cyprus, and the presidential building was small, but they would welcome us there and hold ceremonies there”, but that then, “we said, ‘we need to build a parliament building and a presidential building befitting the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus”.

After that, he said, “we quickly built the parliament building and the presidential building there” and added that “there is no such thing in southern Cyprus”.

“The election was held, and as leaders who believe in democracy, we congratulated the winning candidate by phone,” he said, before addressing Erhurman directly.

“I am currently on a visit to the Gulf. After the Gulf visit, our door is open to you, we are waiting for you. They also said they would make the visit. We are not strangers to each other. We will meet. Hopefully, if this visit takes place by the end of the week, we will discuss … relations in detail with them.”

Erdogan telephoned Erhurman on Monday night congratulating him on his landslide election victory, and had himself said on Sunday night that the election “reflected the will of our Turkish Cypriot brothers and sisters”.

His Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz attended Erhurman’s swearing in ceremony on Friday.

Earlier, opposition party CHP leader Ozgur Ozel, meanwhile, made explicit reference to the Turkish government’s apparent pre-election preference for Erhurman’s election opponent and now predecessor Ersin Tatar to win.

“The Turkish Cypriot people, in this election, have not only chosen Erhurman, but have also responded to those who interfere from the outside for their own interests, effectively staging an invasion of the island to propagate their supported side, thereby affirming the TRNC’s democracy and national will,” he said.

“I hope those in Ankara, who not only disregarded our country’s foreign policy decorum but also openly flout the law, resorting to all kinds of smear campaigns to ensure their supported candidate’s victory … have correctly understood the Turkish Cypriot people’s message.”