FM Fidan meets TRNC Prime Minister Üstel in Ankara
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan shakes hands with TRNC Prime Minister Ünal Üstel in Ankara, July 31, 2026. (IHA Photo)


Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Prime Minister Ünal Üstel in Ankara on Friday, the Foreign Ministry said, as the two sides held talks in the Turkish capital.

No further information on the meeting was immediately provided.

On Thursday, the TRNC said the EU's appointment of a "representative” for Cyprus, at the request of the Greek Cypriot administration, carried no legitimacy.

The Foreign Ministry said the EU lost its impartiality on the Cyprus issue when it admitted the Greek Cypriot Administration as a member in 2004 while disregarding the will of the Turkish Cypriot people.

Last week, Üstel welcomed Fidan's stance during his meeting with the UN secretary-general's personal envoy on Cyprus, saying it reflected the shared position of Türkiye and the Turkish Cypriot people on the island's future.

Üstel said Fidan's remarks that "no approach that does not recognize the inherent rights of the Turkish Cypriot people, namely their sovereign equality and equal international status, will serve a solution" were important, adding that this approach reflected not only Türkiye's unwavering position but also the unchanging will of the Turkish Cypriot people.

Recalling that the Turkish Cypriot people were equal founding partners of the 1960 Republic, Üstel stressed that no approach aimed at reducing Turkish Cypriots to minority status by ignoring this historical and legal reality would be accepted.