Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Tufan Erhürman during an official visit to the TRNC, discussing bilateral relations and the latest developments surrounding the Cyprus issue, diplomatic sources said Friday.
Fidan traveled to the TRNC for a series of high-level meetings with Turkish Cypriot officials.
The talks with Erhürman focused on relations between Türkiye and the TRNC, as well as recent developments concerning the longstanding Cyprus dispute, according to the sources.
As part of his visit, Fidan is also expected to meet with TRNC Prime Minister Ünal Üstel and Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu.
Türkiye is among the guarantor states in talks to resolve the status of the island divided between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots and aligns with the Turkish Cypriot side. It advocates equal rights, freedoms and prosperity for the Turkish Cypriot community and actively supports the security, development and welfare of Turkish Cypriots.
The United Nations seeks to mediate between the sides and has managed to bring together Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders in a new round of talks since 2024, though negotiations have failed to achieve a tangible solution so far.
In 2025, the talks took a new turn when guarantor states, including Greece and the United Kingdom, joined leaders of the two sides in Geneva for an expanded meeting and agreed upon six chapters of possible cooperation between Turkish and Greek Cypriots. A second meeting in July 2025 reviewed progress in the process, and last July, outgoing U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres paid an inaugural visit to Cyprus for a new initiative to advance the process towards a solution.
Fidan's visit comes ahead of a Nov. 9 meeting between Erhürman, Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' personal envoy, María Angela Holguin, amid renewed diplomatic efforts to advance the Cyprus peace process.
The talks are expected to focus on confidence-building measures, including proposals to open four new crossing points and expand mine clearance operations on the divided island.
