Greek Cypriot President Demetris Christofias said on Thursday he would not seek re-election in 2013 if a peace deal was not reached on the ethnically-split island.

Cyprus joined the EU as a divided island when Greek Cypriots in the south rejected the UN reunification plan in twin referendums in 2004 even though the Turkish Cypriots in the north overwhelmingly supported it.

Turkish Cyprus started peace talks with Christofias, a communist in power for two years in late 2008 to end a partition lasting more than three decades.

"I will not seek a second term if there is no solution to the Cyprus problem by the end of my presidency," Christofias told a news conference. "The present term will be (my) first and last."

Reunification talks are focused on reuniting the two parts of the island as a federation, adjustments to the territory each side will get, and how to reconcile property claims of thousands uprooted in conflict.

The promise made by EU foreign ministers before the referendums to end the isolation of the Turkish Cypriots and establish direct trade with north Cyprus remains unfulfilled.


Agencies