ISTANBUL, Feb 12 (AFP) - Greek Cypriot opposition leader Nicos Anastassiades met Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday for what he called "useful" talks on the long-standing division of Cyprus, the Anatolia news agency reported.
"Our meeting with the prime minister took place in a friendly atmosphere. It was very useful. We have launched a dialogue," Anastassiades was quoted by the agency as saying after the meeting.
Anastassiades, who heads the Democratic Rally Party (DISY), added that peace on Cyprus would help not only the island but also Greece and Turkey, which support their respective kinsmen on the island.
"These three countries have a common home and that is the European Union," he said.
Erdogan made no comment after the meeting.
Cyprus remains a major stumbling bloc in Turkey's bid to join the European Union as the mainly Muslim country prepares to begin accession talks with the bloc next year.
The island has been divided since 1974 when Turkey occupied its northern third in response to an Athens-engineered coup aimed at uniting the island with Greece.
Ankara still maintains some 30,000 troops in the breakaway Turkish Cypriot statelet in the north and refuses to endorse the internationally-recognized Greek Cypriot government in the south. The two sides have no diplomatic ties.
But Turkey is now under pressure from the European Union to recognize the Greek Cypriot government, which joined the bloc last year.
Turkish leaders say such a thing is out of the question before a lasting settlement to the island's division.
Anastassiades is the first Greek Cypriot political leader to visit Turkey since Cyprus' partition in 1974, and he arrived here on an invitation from Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP).
The right-wing DISY was the only Greek Cypriot political force to rally behind a UN peace plan to reunify Cyprus last year, which was also supported by Ankara.
The settlement scheme failed when the Greek Cypriots rejected it by an overwhelming majority at an April 24 referendum, even though the Turkish Cypriots gave it strong support.
The outcome ensured that only the internationally-recognized Greek Cypriot sector joined the EU on May 1 while the breakaway Turkish Cypriots were left out in the cold.
Apart from Erdogan, Anastassiades has also met Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul and was set to visit Sunday Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world's 250 million Orthodox worshippers, before leaving.
02/12/2005 19:10 GMT - AFP