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| - Breakaway northern Cyprus -- which is recognised only by Turkey -- is voting for a new leader Sunday amid tensions over gas exploration and the controversial reopening of an abandoned seaside resort. Conflict between Cyprus's Greek and Turkish communities began in the 1950s, at a time when the Mediterranean island was struggling to shake off British colonial rule. Violence between the Greek majority and the Turkish minority escalated after independence in 1960 and led to the deployment of UN peacekeepers four years later. An Athens-sponsored coup seeking to annex the island to Greece prompted Turkish troops to occupy the island's northern third in 1974, consolidating the ethnic divide. Turkish Cypriots unilaterally declared their own state in 1983. The self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) is only recognised by Turkey. A UN-patrolled "Green Line" of barbed wire and military posts separates the Turkish Cypriot north from the internationally recognised Republic of Cyprus. Successive UN-backed plans to reunify the island as a bizonal federation have all failed, the most recent in Switzerland in July 2017. Varosha -- a seaside suburb of the historic eastern city of Famagusta -- has become a symbol of the island's division. The Turkish army has kept the once throbbing beach resort fenced off since its Greek Cypriot residents fled during the invasion. In 1984, the UN adopted a resolution demanding it come under its control and that its original inhabitants be allowed to return. But Ankara refused to comply leaving it as a ruined ghost town until Turkish troops restored access on Thursday, to the anger of Greek Cypriots. Offshore gas exploration around the island, part of a wider battle for influence in the eastern Mediterranean, has seen tensions soar between Greece and Turkey. Despite warnings from the UN and the European Union, Ankara sent a drilling ship and deployed its first armed drone to the north this year. The TRNC counts more than 300,000 citizens. Just under 200,000 are registered to vote in Sunday's election. The breakaway state's economy is heavily dependent on budget support from Ankara. Although it is nominally part of the European Union, any aid packages from the bloc are subject to veto by the Cyprus government. The TRNC's private sector is heavily dependent on tourism, with around a million arrivals a year before the coronavirus pandemic hit international travel. bur-kd/jmy/fg/fz/dv
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