Diplomats battle it out in run-off for Cyprus’s presidency

Voting has started in a run-off to elect ethnically split Cyprus’s eighth new president, pitting a former foreign minister who campaigned as a unifier eschewing ideological and party divisions against a popular veteran diplomat Petros Karadjias/AP)

Polls opened on Sunday in a run-off to elect ethnically-split Cyprus’s new president, pitting a former foreign minister who campaigned as a unifier eschewing ideological and party divisions against a popular veteran diplomat.

Some 561,000 citizens are eligible to vote, and both Nikos Christoulides, the ex-foreign minister, and Andreas Mavroyiannis are hoping for a higher turnout than the 72% who cast ballots in the first round a week ago.