Cyprus' president says a dispute over "basic principles" determining how ethnically split Cyprus would be reunified is hampering attempts to restart peace negotiations with breakaway Turkish Cypriots.
Nicos Anastasiades said Monday that renewed peace talks would lead nowhere without both sides first agreeing on a common definition of reunification.
Cyprus was split in 1974 when Turkey invaded after a coup by supporters of union with Greece. Turkish Cypriots declared independence in 1983 but only Turkey recognizes it.
Anastasiades, head of the internationally recognized, Greek Cypriot dominated government, wants a statement committing both sides to a common vision of a future federated Cyprus before new negotiations begin.
The fear is that yet another impasse after so many previous rounds of talks that had failed may result in the country's formal partition.