Azerbaijan will be his second destination
June 11 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The newly elected president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will visit Northern Cyprus next Monday on his first trip after his re-election on May 28.
Once on the island, he will meet with Turkish Cypriot President Ersin Tatar and Prime Minister Unal Ustel with the aim of “assessing the future of Cyprus” and “development in the Eastern Mediterranean”, as reported by the Turkish chain TRT Turk.
His second trip will take place next Tuesday to Azerbaijan, where he will meet with President Ilham Aliyev and a meeting will also be held between delegations from both countries. Turkey supported Azerbaijan during the conflict against Armenia around the Nagorno Karabakh region, which resulted in Azeri victory.
Cyprus has been divided into two parts since 1974 when Turkish troops invaded the north of the island for fear that it would be annexed by Greece, although only the Greek Cypriot Executive is recognized by the international community. For its part, the capital, Nicosia, is also divided in two through the ‘Green Line’, established by the UN. The conflict continues to be a source of tension between Turkey and Greece and also hampers Ankara’s ambitions to join the European Union.
The new president of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, met Tatar for the first time in February despite the fact that the negotiation process for the theoretical reunification remains stalled after several failed attempts, as the Turkish Cypriot side asks to establish a rotating presidency and the Greek Cypriot side demands that Turkey withdraw the 30,000 soldiers deployed in the north of the island and renounce any intervention.
