Athens/Nicosia  - The Greek Cypriot government said Tuesday talks aimed at reunifying Cyprus were unlikely to conclude by the end of the year.

The eastern Mediterranean island has been divided since a Turkish invasion in 1974 sparked by a brief Greek-inspired coup.

Greek Cypriots have lived in the south of Cyprus and Turkish Cypriots in the north, split by a United Nations-supervised buffer zone which runs through the heart of the island's capital.

Greek and Turkish Cypriots launched renewed peace talks last year, but the pace has been slow.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul, speaking Monday at a joint news conference with Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, that Ankara wanted the talks to end soon, with a referendum by the end of 2009.

"Judging by the stance of the Turkish Cypriots it is impossible to agree by December on a solution which will then go to referendum," said Greek Cypriot government spokesperson Stefanos Stefanou.

He said that assessment was based on positions taken by the Turkish side since the start of reunification talks between the two communities in September 2008.

"The stance taken by the Turkish and Turkish Cypriots does not help and that is why we are calling on them to change," he said.

The 35-year conflict continues to pose a headache for diplomats, most recently in 2004, when Greek Cypriots rejected a UN settlement blueprint a week before the island joined the EU as a divided state.

Both ethnic communities agree, on paper, to rejoining the island as a bizonal and bicommunal federation in the latest round of UN-led peace talks, but disagree on how it will work.

EU officials have said that progress in the Cyprus reunification talks will be essential to move Turkey's slow-moving EU accession process forward.

Ankara's EU membership talks, which began in October 2005, have been partially frozen because of the situation on the island.

Greek Cypriots say they will not agree to Turkey joining the bloc as long as the island is partitioned. Ankara's progress in membership talks will be assessed later this year.(dpa)