Incumbent Nicos Anastasiades will face leftist-backed candidate Stavros Malas in a presidential runoff this weekend in a race that could define whether peace talks with Turkish Cypriots can resume this year.
ADVERTISEMENTNicosia is said to be the last divided capital in Europe on an island that has been separated into the turkish north and Greek south for over forty years.
Apart from the economy, the division of the island is once again on the political agenda ahead of the second round of voting in presidential elections in Cyprus this weekend.
Iraklis and Rafaela were born after the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974..
Iraklis says what he wants is for the Turkish conqueror to leave and the Turkish Cypriots to stay.
"This is the time for the Turkish Cypriots to take what belongs to them regarding property and land. But unfortunately we have politicians who have built political careers on the Cypriot dispute," he says.
Political commentator and journalist George Kaskanis has followed negotiations on the divided island.. But after the failure of settlement talks year, he's pessimistic about the future.
George Kaskanis, political analyst
I didn't see any strong momentum after the elections," he says. "A lot will depend on how things are in Turkey, Let's not forget that we are in an election period and Mr Erdogan probably wants the most extreme parties on board, so he won't do anything about the issue of Cyprus."
Euronews correspondent Efi Koutsokosta says the political debate has been fuelled before the second round of Presidential elections by the Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akintzi. He says the territorial map of the Turkish Cypriot side over the disputed territories had been withdrawn. This means even if negotiations restart after elections, it will be very hard to begin from the same point.