The majority of the nominees running in the first round of the Cypriot administration's 13th presidential elections on Sunday have promised to resume peace negotiations with the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), according to local reports.

Most of the Greek Cypriot candidates agreed on restoring peace negotiations with their Turkish Cypriot neighbors, which broke down in 2017 when the Greek Cypriot side abandoned the table.

More than half of the 14 presidential candidates have so far expressed that they favor resuming dialogue with the Turkish Cypriot government and assured action would follow if elected.

Claiming more support was needed from Berlin, Paris and Brussels for the negotiations, independent runner Nikos Christodoulides, considered a favorite in the race for the top office, has promised more active participation from the European Union in the Cyprus issue.

This process would be reflected in Türkiye-EU relations to pressure the TRNC, Christodoulides has vowed.

Averof Neophytou, 61, who took over the leadership of the country’s largest Democratic Rally party from outgoing Nikos Anastasiades, claimed he would use "the energy card" for federation-based talks and nominate the Greek Cypriot administration for NATO membership.

Career diplomat Andres Mavroyiannis, 66, who served under Anastasiades as his chief negotiator in peace talks with the TRNC, has appealed to voters by assuring he would call on guarantor countries in the Cyprus issue for a return to peace talks and send a letter to the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council.

The three candidates also believe that the Greek National Guard should be equipped with modern and intelligent weapon systems. At the same time, the country’s defense budget for 2023 should be over 200 million euros ($216.50 million).

The other candidates have so far dwelled on more weapons and a more robust national guard in their election campaigns.

In addition to more weapons and the Cyprus issue, selling citizenships to thousands of foreigners, including arms dealers, drug barons and smugglers, without meeting the requirements, the migrant crisis and public corruption are among the myriad issues the newly elected leader would have to prioritize in the country.

Opinion polls have consistently shown Christodoulides will head into the runoff against either Mavroyiannis or Neophytou.

Some registered 561,000 Greek Cypriots headed to polls on Sunday. If one of the 14 candidates grabs 50% plus one of the votes in the first round, they will be elected the new leader of the Greek Cypriot administration. If none of the candidates make it above 50%, the two candidates that won the most votes will face off in the runoff next Sunday, Feb. 12.

Today’s elections also mark the first election since 1959, with the highest number of candidates in the first round.

If the electoral promises of the three candidates were to come true, it could lead to a further deepening of the Cyprus issue, which involves a conflict that has been ongoing for many years between the islands’ two peoples.

The issue first erupted in the late 1950s when Greek Cypriots launched a campaign of oppression and fear against Turkish Cypriots, forcing the latter to withdraw into enclaves for safety and a 1974 coup aiming at Greece’s annexation led to Türkiye’s military intervention, dubbed Cyprus Peace Operation, that eventually led to the foundation of the TRNC in 1983.

Multiple international efforts were made for a remedy. The U.N. worked for years to achieve a comprehensive solution, proposing a reunification plan for a federation and sponsoring peace talks that eventually broke down, most notably the failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Türkiye, Greece, and the U.K.

While Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration support the U.N.’s suggestion of a federal Greek Cypriot administration, the TRNC and Türkiye have been resolutely calling for a two-state solution, stressing that "the sovereign equality and the equal international status of the Turkish Cypriots are non-negotiable."

Most recently, the U.N. Security Council extended the mandate for its peacekeeping force on the island by only seeking the unilateral consent of the Greek Cypriot side.

Türkiye has condemned the decision, saying it had "no humanitarian, diplomatic or legal value."

"With this decision, the U.N. Security Council shows that it has not abandoned its insistence on solution models that proved unsuccessful," Vice President Fuat Oktay asserted and reiterated Ankara’s calls for the international community to recognize the TRNC.