NICOSIA - Turkish Cypriots went to the polls for the fourth time in less than 18 months on Sunday in a presidential election set to reiterate their support for moves to reunite the ethnically divided island.

Pro-reunification Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Talat is the favorite to succeed veteran hawk Rauf Denktash, who is retiring after more than 30 years at the helm of the breakaway Turkish Cypriot enclave in the north of the Mediterranean island.

"Today is a turning point," Talat said after casting his vote at a school in the coastal town of Kyrenia. "We have to solve the Cyprus problem. We have to do this with the Greek Cypriot community."

Turkey, the only country to recognize the breakaway north, has a major stake in the outcome as Ankara fears lack of progress on Cyprus peace moves could hamper its own bid to start European Union entry talks in October.

Nine candidates are standing, and the frontrunner must win more than half the votes to avoid a second ballot.

But campaigning has been low-key with only Talat's Republican Turkish Party holding rallies- a sharp contrast with the feverish atmosphere before last year's island-wide referendum on a U.N. peace plan.

Talat says he is confident his election support will mirror the result of that referendum in the Turkish Cypriot north, where two-thirds of voters said 'yes' to the blueprint for a united, federal Cyprus.

The plan was scuppered by the Greek Cypriots, who voted overwhelmingly against it, although diplomats say it remains the only realistic basis for further negotiations.

Fresh Peace Moves?

They say fresh peace initiatives are likely to stir once the Turkish Cypriot election is out of the way.

But with hardline nationalist Denktash sidelined it is now Greek Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos who is widely seen as the main barrier to a settlement, and continued Greek Cypriot opposition will give Talat little immediate leverage.

The Greek Cypriot government joined the EU last May in the name of the whole island, while the Turkish Cypriots remain isolated by international sanctions. Many analysts say Papadopoulos is holding out in the hope of forcing more Turkish concessions as Ankara's date with the EU draws nearer.

"We hope that a leadership will emerge which will show sincere will for a resumption of talks for reunification," Papadopoulos told reporters.

Results of the presidential poll are expected by mid-evening. Turkish Cypriots have also voted in two parliamentary elections since late 2003, which brought Talat to power on a wave of desire to share the benefits of EU entry.

The election marks the swansong of 81-year-old Denktash, the rotund lawyer who has dominated Turkish Cypriot politics since the island was split in 1974 when Turkey invaded in response to a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at union with Greece.

Greek Cypriot newspapers heralded the election as the end of an era. The Cyprus Mail said Denktash was bowing out "like an ageing diva closing the curtains on his career".

The daily Phileleftheros said it is now up to "Talat to put his words into deeds, now he no longer has Denktash in the way".

Additional reporting by Hamdi Istanbullu and Michele Kambas