Leftist Akinci wins north Cyprus election, seeking peace deal

Turkish Cypriot presidential hopeful Mustafa Akinci with his wife Meral casts his vote at a polling station in northern Nicosia April 26, 2015. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou

NICOSIA (Reuters) - A leftist moderate promising to press for a peace deal in ethnically-split Cyprus swept to victory in a Turkish Cypriot presidential election runoff on Sunday.

Mustafa Akinci, standing as an independent, won 60.3 percent of the votes, according to figures provided by the election commission. His rival was incumbent president Dervis Eroglu, a conservative elected five years ago.