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Minister of State at the UK Foreign Office, Stephen Doughty MP, will visit the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) today (Friday, 7th March) for a meeting with President Ersin Tatar in Lefkoşa, TRNC.
This visit takes place ahead of pivotal United Nations discussions on the future of Cyprus, which are set to be held in Geneva, Switzerland, on 17th and 18th March. As the UN Security Council’s ‘penholder’ on Cyprus, the UK is expected to play a crucial role in bringing together representatives from the TRNC, the Republic of Cyprus, Türkiye, Greece, and the United Kingdom.
The meeting will mark the first in-person interaction between the TRNC and the newly formed Labour government. It follows Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s pre-Christmas discussions with the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides. The Labour government’s previous reluctance to engage with President Tatar had drawn criticism from both Northern Cyprus and Türkiye.
Observers see this move as a signal that the Starmer government is looking to repair ties with Ankara, particularly as it works towards forming a ‘coalition of the willing’.
Doughty’s visit will be the first official UK government trip to Northern Cyprus since former Conservative Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab’s visit in February 2021.
Ahead of the UK minister’s arrival, TRNC Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu has been in London over the past week, holding meetings with senior parliamentarians across the political spectrum. Minister Tahsin has also spoken to various UK media outlets, including a live interview on Iain Dale’s LBC show.
The Freedom and Fairness for Northern Cyprus campaign, based in the UK, hopes that this meeting between the UK minister and the TRNC President could signal a shift in the British government’s stance as a UN guarantor power on Cyprus—one that acknowledges the presence of two states on the island.