Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz on Sunday evening left Cyprus unexpectedly after having been scheduled to attend further meetings on the island as part of Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar’s re-election campaign.

Yilmaz had been on the island since Thursday night, and had attended a series of events alongside Tatar, including the premiere of a documentary on Thursday night and another campaign event at northern Nicosia’s Near East University on Saturday.

On Sunday, he attended the cig kofte [raw meatball] festival in Kyrenia, making a speech to its attendees in favour of Tatar’s preferred two-state solution to the Cyprus problem, and had been expected to attend a further campaign event in the village of Pergamos, near Pyla, later that day.

It had also been expected that he would be in attendance at a large rally Tatar is set to hold in Kyrenia on Monday night.

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However, instead, he travelled to Ercan (Tymbou) airport on Sunday evening, and was followed there by Tatar and other high-profile Turkish Cypriot figures, ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel and ‘deputy prime minister’ Fikri Ataoglu.

They then held an impromptu meeting at the airport, which was also attended by former Turkish prime minister Binali Yildirim and Turkish ambassador in Nicosia Ali Murat Basceri.

The meeting lasted for around an hour, with the official readout stating that its participants had “addressed the TRNC’s relations with the Turkic world, the ceasefire in Gaza, and regional developments”.

It added that “both sides emphasised the importance of the strong solidarity and cooperation between Turkey and the TRNC for regional stability”.

At the end of the meeting, Yilmaz immediately left the island and the campaign event in Pergamos was cancelled.

Yilmaz has made three visits to the island since the start of August, and had become a central figure in Tatar’s campaign, while other high-profile Turkish political figures had also made visits to the island with the aim of bolstering Tatar’s chances of re-election.

Among the list of visitors was former interior minister Suleyman Soylu, former defence minister Hulusi Akar, opposition Zafer Party leader Umit Ozdag, and former footballer Mesut Ozil.

The election is set to take place on Sunday, with Tatar to be challenged by former Turkish Cypriot ‘prime minister’ Tufan Erhurman, who advocates for a return to negotiations based on a federal solution.

To achieve this, however, he will have to convince Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ruled out any return to negotiations towards a federal solution to the Cyprus problem, regardless of who wins the election.

“The matter of federation is now closed for us. No one can draw us back into talks for a federation with wordplay. Turkish Cypriots will never accept being a minority on the island. The only realistic solution is to accept the existence of two states on the island,” he said.

These actions have drawn reactions from both Cyprus and Turkey, with Turkish Cypriot Nicosia mayor Mehmet Harmanci having described Ozil’s visit as “interference”, and described Ozil himself as a “model for the government’s public relations agency”.