Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev referred to Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar as the “President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” following a bilateral meeting, it emerged on Monday.

The move on Saturday appears to be a gear-change in relations between Azerbaijan and the north, and comes as a 200-strong Turkish Cypriot delegation visited the country last week.

Following the meeting, Aliyev said he and Tatar had “expressed satisfaction regarding the expansion of relations between the peoples of the Turkic world, based on their historical connections with one another, and the existence of opportunities for the expansion of cooperation between our nations in the fields of humanitarianism, culture, education and sports.”

He added that it was “quite logical” for the north to have a seat as an observer of the Organisation of Turkic States.

It was reported that Tatar “congratulated Aliyev on fully securing the sovereignty of Azerbaijan” and “expressed gratitude” to Aliyev for the organisation of Turkish Cypriot events in the country last week.