Turkey's President Abdullah Gul is to call on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to revive the stalled Cyprus peace process in talks next week.
Diplomatic efforts to end the decades-old partition of Cyprus have been largely on hold since Greek Cypriots rejected a UN plan in 2004 to reunite the Mediterranean island.
The division of Cyprus into an internationally recognised Greek Cypriot south and a breakaway Turkish Cypriot enclave in the north threatens to block Turkey's drive to join the European Union.
"I will ask the UN to be more active, to start new efforts for a comprehensive solution to the Cyprus problem," President Abdullah Gul said today at a news conference with Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat.
Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General
Mr Gul, who will hold talks with President Bush next week in Washington before meeting Mr Ban in New York, said 2008 offered a new opportunity for Cyprus because of a Greek Cypriot presidential election set for February 17th.
President Tassos Papadopoulos, who is seeking re-election, led his community into rejecting the 2004 UN peace plan one week before the island joined the EU as a divided country.
Mr Papadopoulos has blocked EU efforts to ease trade restrictions against the Turkish Cypriots, fearing this could lead to de facto diplomatic recognition of their enclave.
The EU has frozen membership negotiations with Turkey in eight policy areas due to Ankara's refusal to open its ports and airports to Greek Cypriot traffic.
Mr Talat told the news conference that "whoever wins the election, initiatives will be taken" to revive peace talks.
Cyprus has been split on ethnic lines since Turkey invaded the north of the island in 1974 after a Greek Cypriot coup backed by the military junta then ruling Greece. Ankara keeps some 35,000 troops in northern Cyprus.