British Turkish Cypriots urge House of Commons speaker to visit Northern Cyprus

British Turkish Cypriots on Sunday urged the House of Commons speaker to extend his planned visit to the island to include a trip to Northern Cyprus and its officials.

"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 UK (CTCA-UK) said.

Hoyle will begin a three-day official visit to 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 UK," 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 Lefkosa (Nicosia) and British bases in Episkopi and Akrotiri.

Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the UN to achieve a comprehensive settlement.

Ethnic attacks starting in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety.

In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece's annexation led to Turkey's military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. As a result, the TRNC was founded in 1983.

It has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Turkey, Greece, and Britain.

The Greek Cypriot administration entered the EU in 2004, the same year Greek Cypriots thwarted the UN's Annan plan to end the longstanding dispute.