Turkey’s new president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has made his first official overseas trip since being elected. <br /><br />In keeping with tradition, his visit was to the breakaway northern part of Cyprus where he met the Turkish Cypriot leader ahead of a joint news conference.<br /><br />Reunification of the divided island is an important topic for Erdogan, Turkey’s first directly elected president. He said he will continue to present the issue on international platforms.<br /><br />“The NATO summit and UN General Assembly take place soon,” said Erdogan. “The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) has always topped our agenda.”<br /><br />Erdogan outlined his plans to start what he described as one of his biggest projects, “to supply water from Turkey under the Mediterranean Sea.”<br /><br />“This will deepen our brotherhood and ties,” he added.<br /><br />Cyprus has been divided since Turkey invaded the north of the island in response to a Greek-backed military coup in 1974. Since then several reunification attempts have been unsuccessful.<br /><br />Talks resumed in February 2012 but proposals were eventually rejected by some political parties in southern Cyprus.<br /><br />Only the Greek Cypriot government in the south of the island is internationally recognised.
