Brussels, 19/09/2007 (Agence Europe) - The new Turkish president, Abdullah Gül, has called on the European Union and the international community to “honour their pledges” by putting an end to the economic isolation of the northern part of Cyprus. By giving their support, in April 2004, to the plan to reunite Cyprus as proposed by the United Nations, “both Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) have proven their sincere desire for peace … but there is more to be done”, Gül said on Tuesday 18 September after a meeting with the leader of the Turkish Cypriots, Mehmed Ali Talat. He said it was now up to the EU to keep its commitment and ease the economic isolation of the TRNC. The European Commission's proposal for a direct trade regulation between northern Cyprus and the EU is still blocked in Council. The efforts made by the former German and Finnish EU presidencies were not successful and it is not yet certain whether the dossier will resurface under Portuguese EU presidency. Commissioner Olli Rehn, for his part, regrets this deadlock and stresses that he has no intention to withdraw his proposal, a Commission spokeswoman explains. Mr Gül, who will be in the TRNC on his first visit abroad as the new president, said Ankara would continue to back UN efforts for peace on the island, but underlined that a settlement must be based on the existence of two states on the island. “The reality on the island is that there are two states, two democracies, two languages and two religions. It is difficult to find a settlement without taking these into account”, he said. The Cypriot foreign minister immediately condemned Mr Gül's visit as another example of unlawful action on the part of Turkey and serious provocation against a member of the European Union. Mr Talat and the Cypriot president, Tassos Papadopoulos, had taken part at a meeting on 5 September under the aegis of the UN to relaunch the peace process, but the meeting had not come to any concrete conclusions. (hb)