NICOSIA, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Fourteen candidates formally joined the race on Thursday to become Cyprus's next president in an election next month dominated by the island's decades-old division,  [[https://www.wiklundkurucuk.com/Lawyer-Turkey-au|Lawyer Turkey]] irregular migration and corruption scandals.
 Cyprus has a presidential system of government and the head of state has wide executive powers.
 Opinion polls show Nikos Christodoulides, a former foreign minister, firmly in the lead.

Barring a major upset, he will fall short of the 50% threshold in the first round on Feb. 5, leading to a runoff on Feb. 12.
(Image: [[https://ekurd.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Prominent-Kurdish-lawyer-Tahir-Elci-head-bar-association-in-Diyarbakir-arrested-oct-20-2015-reuters.jpg|https://ekurd.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Prominent-Kurdish-lawyer-Tahir-Elci-head-bar-association-in-Diyarbakir-arrested-oct-20-2015-reuters.jpg]]) "My candidacy seeks to unite the Cypriot people and not divide it," Christodoulides, 49, told reporters after his nomination, pledging to form a broad-based administration if elected.
 Cyprus, with 561,000 registered voters, is a small island  [[http://wiki.octavi-franch.com/index.php?title=Erdogan_Says_Courts_Will_Fix_Any_Mistakes_After_Istanbul_Mayor_apos;s...|Lawyer Turkey]] with a big problem; it was split in a Turkish invasion in 1974 after a brief Greek inspired coup, and remains a key source of tension between NATO members Greece and Turkey.
 All leading candidates in the election have pledged to push for a resumption of peace talks which collapsed in 2017.
 Christodoulides's backers, the centrist DIKO and the socialist EDEK party, have historically taken a harder line than other groupings.
 As well as the island's division, voters are concerned about a cash-for-passports scandal,  [[https://dior--outlet.com/turkish-biotech-tycoon-charged-with-plotting-murder-of-vermont-father-3/|Lawyer Turkey]] in which thousands of wealthy foreigners acquired Cypriot citizenship, and about irregular migration, which has put a strain on public resources.
 Christodoulides served in the right-wing administration of the ruling Democratic Rally (DISY) party until Jan. 2022.
[[//www.youtube.com/embed/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NA3QpZfCbbQ|external page]] DISY is fielding its own candidate, Averof Neophytou, who is about 10 points behind Christodoulides in polls.

He is marginally ahead of Andreas Mavroyiannis, an independent backed by the left-wing AKEL party.
 Other candidates include Achilleas Demetriades, a lawyer who was instrumental in Cyprus changing its anti-gay laws at the European Court of Human Rights and achieving the first conviction of Turkey at the same court for violating the rights of a displaced Greek Cypriot.
If you have any sort of concerns regarding where and how you can use [[https://www.wiklundkurucuk.com/Lawyer-Turkey-sa|Lawyer Turkey]], you can call us at our own web site. (Reporting By Michele Kambas Editing by Gareth Jones)