Anastasiades get second term as Cyprus president

With all the votes counted, the incumbent conservative secured 56 percent on Sunday, comfortably ahead of his rival, Stavros Malas, a leftist-backed independent, at 44 percent.

Anastasiades, 71, is now expected to pick up the pieces of a suspended peace process on the ethnically split island, as well as oversee the economic recovery of a country still bouncing back from a crippling financial crisis.

"My dear friends, I want to thank you from the depths of my heart for the trust and the clear mandate," Anastasiades told hundreds of supporters who had gathered outside his election campaign headquarters in the centre of the capital, Nicosia.

"A new era begins tomorrow," he said from the building's balcony. "People demand cooperation and unity because this is the only way to solve the problems we're facing."

Earlier on Sunday, Malas, 50, had called Anastasiades to congratulate him for his re-election.

"The people have spoken, and we respect their decision," he said in a speech at his election campaign headquarters.

The result was in line with exit polls, which had put support for Anastasiades at an average of 57 percent, within a range of 54.5 percent to 59.5 percent.

Abstention stood at 26 percent.