CYPRUS: He is set to replace veteran partitionist politician Rauf Denktash (81), who served seven five-year terms as president and led his community for more than half a century.
"Today is a turning point. We have to solve the Cyprus problem. We have to do this with the Greek Cypriot community," Mr Talat said as he cast his ballot in the port town of Kyrenia.
He won 55 per cent of the vote, while his nearest rival in a field of nine, Dervis Eroglu of the hardline National Unity Party, took only 23 per cent.
Until Turkish Cypriots voted last April in favour of the UN plan for a federation, Mr Denktash, who had declared a breakaway Turkish Cypriot state in 1983, was seen as the main obstacle to a settlement.
Since then he has been a lame duck, his separatist policies rejected by most Turkish Cypriots and the Justice and Development Party government in Ankara, which seeks a Cyprus settlement ahead of negotiations on Turkey's EU accession.
Nevertheless, Mr Denktash who still wields considerable influence in the north and with the traditional Turkish political elite and the army, has pledged to head the opposition to reunification which he regards as selling out Turkish Cypriot independence, recognised only by Turkey.
The UN plan was not adopted because the Greek Cypriots rejected it at the behest of Cypriot president Tassos Papadopoulos, who argued that the federation created by the 2004 version of the UN plan would not be viable.
Commenting on Mr Talat's expected victory, Mr Papadopoulos said: "I hope the vote in the occupied region will result in a leadership that will show a sincere desire for the resumption of negotiations for the reunification of our country."
He said Mr Denktash's departure was a "positive step". Last week in a televised news conference, Mr Papadopoulos declared that he wanted to return to the negotiating table "as soon as possible".
While he has been discussing with Greek Cypriot party leaders amendments to the UN plan, he refuses to submit changes he demands until negotiations start. He has warned that Cypriots cannot afford to fail a second time.
Mr Talat has called on the EU to exert pressure on the Greek Cypriots to restart talks and criticised Mr Papadopoulos for opposing the UN plan.
UN secretary general Kofi Annan said he would not relaunch the reunification effort until he is convinced both sides were prepared to reach a settlement.
Cyprus was divided in 1974 when the north was occupied by Turkey which maintains 35,000 troops in the area.
Over the past 30 years, Ankara has provided more than $3 billion in subsidies to the Turkish Cypriots.