Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman holds diplomatic meetings in Turkey

Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman, who took office last October, attended the Antalya Diplomacy Forum where he held several high-level meetings. On Thursday in Ankara, he met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss the Cyprus issue and the presence of foreign military assets on the island. Erdogan expressed concern over the permanence of military units deployed by various European nations following an Iranian-made drone strike last month. On Friday, Erhurman met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, accompanied by Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and Turkish Cypriot official Tahsin Ertugruloglu. On Saturday, Erhurman met with UN Undersecretary-General for Peacebuilding Rosemary DiCarlo to discuss confidence-building measures and the Cyprus problem. Reports noted that the UN and TRNC flags were displayed together during the meeting, an unusual occurrence for a non-UN member state. Meanwhile, UN Undersecretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix is scheduled to visit Cyprus this Sunday. Erhurman has consistently advocated for a time-bound, result-oriented negotiation process to reach a lasting solution.