British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will visit Cyprus on Tuesday as part of a regional tour, the presidency said on Sunday.

The one-day working visit “underscores excellent relations between Cyprus and the United Kingdom”, President Nikos Christodoulides’ office said. It is part of Starmer’s tour of the region.

“The meeting between President Christodoulides and Prime Minister Starmer is also an important development in the excellent relations between Cyprus and the United Kingdom that have been strengthened further and have entered a new constructive era in the context of their Strategic Cooperation,” the statement added.

In the morning of Tuesday, the two leaders will hold a private meeting followed by expanded talks between the delegations of the two countries.

Government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said the visit is “of great importance, both for developments in the region and for the role Cyprus has played over time as a pillar of security and stability”.

Among the issues to be discussed are the bilateral relations with emphasis on matters pertaining to the Strategic Dialogue between Cyprus and the UK, including issues relating to defence and security, education, culture, economy, commerce, investments and energy.

During their meeting, the Cyprus problem and the efforts to resume the negotiations are also expected to be discussed, as will migration, the situation in Ukraine and EU-UK relations.

Emphasis is expected to be given to regional developments and the role that Cyprus plays with regard to the provision of humanitarian aid historically and more recently through the Amalthea initiative, and issues concerning the evacuation of civilians from war zones.

The meeting comes just two months after Christodoulides met Starmer in Downing Street.

Starmer will visit the UAE and Saudi Arabia on Monday and according to British newspaper The Independent will arrive in Cyprus on Monday night.

The Independent also quoted Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar’s office as saying it was dissatisfied that there had been no prior information about Starmer’s visit.

The statement called on the British government, as a guarantor power, to treat the two sides in Cyprus “on an equal footing”, ahead of an expanded meeting on the Cyprus problem under the UN Secretary General.

“We expect common sense to prevail and the UK Prime Minister to receive a meeting with President Ersin Tatar during his visit to the island,” the statement concluded.

Leading British opposition Conservatives called on Starmer to make it clear “that he has no intention of handing over” British bases in Cyprus.

The comments by shadow defence secretary Mark Francois and shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel follow the newspaper’s comment that there are “growing demands” in Cyprus for the return of base territories under Cypriot sovereignty.

It is the first visit of a British prime minister to the island since Edward Heath in 1971. Former Prime Minister John Major visited the island as part of the Commonwealth head of state meeting in 1993.

Britain administered Cyprus between 1878 and 1960, first as a British protectorate, then as a crown colony from 1925.

It has two sprawling military bases on the island. The facilities have been used in the past in operations against Houthi forces in Yemen in retaliation for attacks on Red Sea shipping that the Iran-backed group says is a response to the war in Gaza, as well as Islamic state targets in Syria.