Didim Today

Turkey will not recognize Cyprus' presidency of the European Union in mid-2012 unless a deal reunifying the divided island is reached by then, Turkey's foreign minister warned Wednesday. Ahmet Davutoglu also said Turkey-EU ties would reach a "freezing point" if Cyprus assumes the presidency before any settlement that would allow the Turkish community to be a legitimate representative of a reunified state.

Cyprus has been divided into a Turkish Cypriot north and a Greek Cypriot south since 1974 when Turkey invaded after a short-lived coup by supporters of union with Greece. The island joined the EU in 2004, but only the internationally recognized south has membership benefits. Numerous U.N.-mediated attempts at reunification have failed, also hampering Turkey's EU bid.

The latest peace talks, launched almost three years ago, have also produced limited progress and core issues have yet to be discussed, including how to settle territorial adjustments and claims on private property lost after the 1974 war.

"If Cyprus takes on the presidency unilaterally by July 2012 by delaying the peace talks and by dragging their feet, this would not only amount to a non-solution, but it would also take Turkey's relations with the EU beyond a deadlock, toward a freezing point," he told reporters. "It would be out of the question for us to recognize the southern Cypriot administration's term presidency in any way," he said.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said last week that he expects the Turkish and Greek Cypriot to ramp up talks and to reach agreement by October on all core issues.

Davutoglu said during a visit to Cyprus last week that an accord should be concluded by year's end followed by referendums in the first months of 2012 that would enable a reunified island to assume a "legitimate (EU) presidency to represent all the island."