Nine candidates bidding for Cyprus' presidency

Cyprus' President Tassos Papadopoulos and eight other candidates on Friday officially registered as candidates for February's presidential elections, the Chief Returning Officer announced.

Papadopoulos, along with Parliament Speaker, General Secretary of the left-wing AKEL Demetris Christofias and right-wing backed former Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides are the three most prominent candidates.

But recent polls have shown that none of them will win in the first round scheduled for Feb. 17, and a second round is expected to take place on Feb. 24, with the two leading candidates facing off in a final showdown.

The debates between the three candidates so far have focused on how to solve the decades-long Cyprus issue.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey militarily intervened and occupied the north of the island following a coup by a group of Greek officers who pushed for union with Greece.