Yet, unlike customary protocol, Şahin will only be accompanied by one of the deputy parliament speakers, Nevzat Pakdil of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), while the deputy parliament speakers from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) gave their excuses for not accompanying Şahin. Before being elected as parliament speaker, Şahin was a leading member of the AK Party.
News reports suggested that the absence of Deputy Parliament Speaker Güldal Mumcu of the CHP and Deputy Parliament Speaker Meral Akşener of the MHP was related to their parties' reaction against the government's recently announced Kurdish initiative.
Mumcu said she would have to attend a CHP meeting with Deniz Baykal in İzmir on the same date as the visit and Akşener offered her hectic agenda as an excuse for not joining the visit to the KKTC.
During his one-day visit at the invitation of his KKTC counterpart, Republican Assembly Speaker Hasan Bozer, Şahin will have talks with KKTC President Mehmet Ali Talat, Prime Minister Derviş Eroğlu and former KKTC President Rauf Denktaş.
