Turkish foreign minister due in Northern Cyprus Monday

By Gozde Bayar

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu will pay a two-day visit to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) on Feb. 1-2.

“During his visit, Minister Cavusoglu will meet with the TRNC authorities to discuss the issues on our common agenda, particularly the Cyprus issue,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

The island of Cyprus has been divided into the TRNC in the north and the Greek Cypriot administration in the south since 1974, when a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece’s annexation of the island was followed by violence against the island’s Turks and Ankara’s intervention as a guarantor power.

It has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Turkey, Greece and the UK. The TRNC was founded in 1983.

Turkey has recently stressed that efforts for a “federal” solution to the divided island of Cyprus have proved hopeless, and any future talks must focus on two separate, sovereign states on the island.