Turkish Cypriot premier to visit Turkey on Thursday

ANKARA

Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister Ersin Tatar will visit Turkey on Thursday, Turkey's Presidential Communications Directorate said in a statement on Wednesday.

Tatar will pay his first official visit to Turkey at the invitation of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, according to the statement.

Erdogan and Tatar are expected to discuss several issues including further development of close cooperation between the two sides, activities related to hydrocarbon resources in the Eastern Mediterranean and the latest developments on the Cyprus issue, it said.

Some high-level officials from Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) -- including the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Kudret Ozersay and Minister of Finance Olgun Amcaoglu -- will accompany Tatar during his visit, the statement added.

In 1974, following a coup aiming at Cyprus’ annexation by Greece, Ankara had to intervene as a guarantor power. In 1983, the TRNC was founded.

The decades since then have seen several attempts to resolve the dispute, all ending in failure. The latest one, held with the participation of the guarantor countries -- Turkey, Greece, and the U.K. -- ended in 2017 in Switzerland.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar