Cyprus president, 71, declares bid for second 5 year term

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades has declared his bid for a second five-year term — and promises it will be his last. (Photo By European People’s Party, CC BY 2.0)

NICOSIA, Cyprus — Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades has declared his bid for a second five-year term — and promises it will be his last.

The 71-year old Anastasiades threw his hat into the ring Saturday during a gathering for supporters where he outlined the achievements of his first term. That included bringing the economy of the divided Mediterranean island back on a growth trajectory after a 2013 economic crisis that brought Cyprus to the brink of bankruptcy.

Anastasiades pledged to renew efforts to reunify the ethnically divided island after peace talks with breakaway Turkish Cypriots collapsed in July.

His challengers include Nicholas Papadopoulos from the centre-right DIKO party, former foreign minister Giorgos Lillikas and Stavros Malas, who is backed by the communist-rooted AKEL party.