LEFKOSA, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus 

Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday left the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) after attending the Peace and Freedom Day ceremonies.

Erdogan and his accompanying delegation departed for Istanbul.

Turkish Cypriot President Ersin Tatar, TRNC’s Prime Minister Unal Ustel and Türkiye’s Ambassador to Lefkosa Metin Feyzioglu saw Erdogan off at the Ercan International Airport.

Earlier, the Turkish president arrived in the TRNC to attend events marking the 50th anniversary of the Cyprus Peace Operation, known as Peace and Freedom Day.

The Turkish president was welcomed by Tatar at Ercan Airport in the capital Lefkosa. Following a welcoming ceremony, Erdogan laid a wreath at the Ataturk Monument in the city and signed the site's special book.

Erdogan expressed Ankara's readiness to negotiate, discuss, and ultimately achieve a lasting peace and solution on the island. He said the Greek Cypriot side had a "spoiled mentality," seeing itself as the sole ruler of the island.

The island of Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts 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 of the island led to Türkiye’s military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. As a result, the TRNC was founded in 1983.

The Greek Cypriot administration was admitted to the EU in 2004, the same year Greek Cypriots thwarted a UN plan to end the longstanding dispute.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar