TURKEY'S Prime Minister, Mr Necmettin Erbakan, has assured the self declared Turkish Cypriot state of Ankara's continued support amid signs of progress towards solving the problems of the divided island.
"I came to show you that the motherland, Turkey, is always by your side," he told cheering crowds in Nicosia at the weekend during a ceremony marking the anniversary of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974.
On the other side of the Green Line that divides the island, the President of Cyprus, Mr Glafcos Clerides, called for compromise.
"Our side is ready to negotiate with courage, as it has shown in the past, if it is proven that the Turkish side is ready for a logical and viable compromise," he said.
In the southern government controlled areas church bells tolled in mourning at midday. Air raid sirens wailed over divided Nicosia at 5.30 a.m., the time of the landing in 1974 of Turkish troops. In the north, soldiers assembled for a military parade and people waved Turkish and Turkish Cypriot flags as they welcomed Mr Erbakan.
The visit was criticised by Mr Clerides. "This visit is a provocation to Cyprus's Hellenism, because it emphasises that Turkey has not repented for the crime of the invasion which it committed," he said.
Mr Erbakan was visiting after an apparent diplomatic breakthrough on arranging talks on troop reductions in Cyprus.
The US envoy, Ms Madeleine Albright, who met Mr Erbakan on Friday, said during a visit to Cyprus during the week that military commanders from the two sides would meet soon.
Diplomatic initiatives to reunite the island as a bicommunal federated state have gained momentum following heightened tension between NATO partners Greece and Turkey, and Cyprus's forthcoming accession talks due to start with the EU in 18 months.
. Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Ms Tansu Ciller, was overwhelmingly re elected yesterday as leader of her conservative True Path Party (DYP), the junior partner in the Islamist led government.
Party congress delegates voted 1,950 to 79 in favour of Ms Ciller, a former prime minister, against Mr Mehmet Dulger.