NICOSIA, June 12. /TASS/. Cyprus’ foreign ministry has slammed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to the northern part of the island it thinks to be occupied by Turkey as illegal.

"The foreign ministry condemns the illegal visit by the Turkish president to the occupied territories, <…> which is another flagrant violation of the relevant resolution of the United Nations Security Council," it said on Monday.

"During his stay on the occupied territories <…> both the Turkish president and the Turkish Cypriot leader reiterated their unacceptable position on the Republic of Cyprus," it stressed.

Earlier on Monday, Erdogan visited Cyprus’ northern part, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). It was his first foreign trip after being re-elected president.

Cyprus has been divided into two parts since 1974 after Turkey invasion of the northern part of the island that followed a state coup staged by supporters of Cyprus’ unification with Greece. As a result of combat operations, Turkey won control of about 37% of the island’s territory where the Turkish Cypriot community unilaterally declared independence and formed the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in 1983. Turkey is the guarantor for Northern Cyprus while the island’s southern part constitutes the Republic of Cyprus populated primarily by Greek Cypriots. The two communities have been holding U.N.-brokered negotiations for decades. The latest round was held in Switzerland in the summer of 2017.