Turkish foreign minister says divided island should be reunited in time to assume European Union presidency in 2012.

Turkey hopes terms for the reunification of Cyprus can be agreed upon by the end of the year so that a referendum can take place in early 2012 before the island takes over the European Union presidency later that year.

Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu, in Cyprus on Saturday for talks with Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu, said it would would be a mistake and against European values for one side to represent the divided island, while the other side remained isolated.

“We hope to find a solution to the Cyprus problem by the end of the year, and hold a referendum in the early months of next year so that Cyprus can take on the presidency of the EU as a new state that represents the whole island,” Davutoglu said.

Cyprus was divided into a Turkish Cypriot north and a Greek Cypriot south in 1974 when Turkey invaded after a coup by supporters of a union with Greece.

Greek Cypriots represent the island internationally and in the European Union, while Turkey is the only country to recognise the Turkish Cypriot state.