Turkish Cypriots living in Britain called on the speaker of the House of Commons to visit the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus during his visit to the island.

"Britain is a guarantor power to Cyprus negotiations. We British Turkish Cypriots would expect and appreciate the Speaker of Parliament Sir Lindsey Hoyle, while visiting Cyprus, to take this valuable opportunity also extending his visit to Turkish Cypriot officials in the North," a statement from the Council of Turkish Cypriots Association U.K. (CTCA-UK) said.

Hoyle will begin a three-day official visit to the Greek Cypriot administration on Monday.

A visit to Northern Cyprus "would show equality and step forward for new negotiations between TRNC (Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus) and the U.K.," the statement also said.

In his first visit to the island, Hoyle will reportedly meet Greek Cypriot administration President Nicos Anastasiades and other officials before visiting Lefkoşa (Nicosia) and British bases in Episkopi and Akrotiri.

While Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration support a federation on Cyprus, Turkey and the TRNC insist on a two-state solution reflecting the realities on the island.

The island of Cyprus has been mired in a decadeslong struggle between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the U.N. to achieve a comprehensive settlement. Five decades of Cyprus talks have led nowhere.

The island has been divided since 1964, when ethnic attacks forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety. In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aiming at Greece's annexation led to Turkey's military intervention as a guarantor power. The TRNC was founded in 1983.

The Greek Cypriot administration, backed by Greece, became a member of the European Union in 2004, although in a referendum that year most Greek Cypriots rejected a U.N. settlement plan that envisaged a reunited Cyprus joining the EU.