Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman on Monday telephoned both Disy leader Annita Demetriou and Akel leader Stefanos Stefanou to congratulate them on their results in Sunday’s parliamentary election.

Erhurman’s office confirmed to the Cyprus Mail that he had called both leaders, with both parties having retained all the seats they had held in the last parliament. Disy won 17 seats at the election and Akel won 15 seats.

Demetriou had earlier in the day been congratulated by both Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Manfred Weber, the leader of the European People’s Party, the centre-right European political grouping to which she belongs.

In calling both leaders to congratulate them, Erhurman returned the favour done unto him after he achieved a landslide victory at last October’s Turkish Cypriot leadership election.

Demetriou had at the time said of Erhurman’s victory that “the Turkish Cypriots, with their vote, turned their back on the two-state solution”.

“We hope that his election as leader of the Turkish Cypriot community will open the way for substantive negotiations for a solution to the Cyprus problem within the agreed framework,” she said.

Stefanou said the Turkish Cypriots have “decided in favour of a federal solution and reunification”.

“This is a positive and hopeful message. Congratulations to Tufan Erhurman. Let us all now focus on efforts to continue the negotiations from the point at which they were interrupted, preserving the basis for negotiations and achieving a comprehensive solution,” he said at the time.