Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar on Thursday said he had agreed to there being British involvement at the planned enlarged meeting on the Cyprus problem which is due to take place in the early part of next year.

Speaking to newspaper Kibris, he said the meeting will be held in a “4+1+1” format, with the “four” being the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot communities and Turkey and Greece, and the two “plus ones” being the United Nations and the United Kingdom.

He was still insistent that the UK play a “lesser” role in the talks, however, and also remained steadfast in his belief that the Cyprus problem cannot be resolved with a federal solution, despite Greece, the UK, the UN, and the Greek Cypriot side publicly favouring such a solution.

“No model can be successful if the realities on the ground are not reflected on the negotiating table. We now know what does not work after a 56-year negotiating process. This is very important for the search for a compromise. We have seen in 56 years that a federal model does not work. We have tried and seen every method,” he said.

He added that talks for a potential federal solution have been “exhausted after many failures”, and that “insisting on what has been exhausted means wanting to preserve the status quo”.

“In other words, insisting on a model, on a basis which has been proven not to work means ensuring the continuation of the status quo and the inhumane isolations which have been imposed on our people,” he said.

Tatar’s eventual acquiescence to British involvement in the planned meeting comes after he and other high-profile Turkish Cypriot politicians had come out against the idea, with ‘foreign minister’ Tahsin Ertugruloglu even criticising the UK’s position on the Cyprus problem.

Tatar had said before his informal dinner with President Nikos Christodoulides in October that “an environment could be created for a 4+1 informal consultation,” thus seemingly ruling out British involvement in a future meeting.

Ertugruloglu had on Sunday night said British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had “cast a shadow over the position of the United Kingdom, a guarantor power” of Cyprus when he visited the Republic but not the north last week, adding that it was a “good thing” that Starmer did not visit the north.

“The UK never fulfilled its duty as a guarantor, and it was the UK which opened the door to the Greek Cypriots under the name of the Republic of Cyprus. The UK has an obligation to treat both sides in Cyprus equally, and Starmer should also listen to the Turkish Cypriot side’s perspective,” he said.

Christodoulides described that visit as “historic”, and said it was “clear proof of our strong will to work together, to enhance our bilateral relationship in defence, security, investments, trade, education, technology and on all levels”.

Equally, new British high commissioner in Nicosia Michael Tatham had said the UK “wants to contribute as constructively as possible to the process” and “takes its role as a guarantor power very seriously”.

He added that his country “fully supports the agreed proposal for a solution within the framework of a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality”.