Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras conditionally declined an offer from his Turkish counterpart, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, to pay a joint visit to ethnically divided Cyprus to boost recently revived peace negotiations, a Greek Cypriot official has told the Greek media.

Davutoğlu proposed a joint visit to the island, divided along ethnic lines into north and south, in a meeting on the sidelines of the UN summit in New York last week.

Nikos Christodoulides, spokesman for the Greek Cypriot government, said Tsipras turned down the offer, suggesting that the two leaders should visit the island once the Cyprus dispute is resolved.

“Let’s first solve the Cyprus issue, then visit the island,” Tsipras reportedly told Davutoğlu.

According to a report on the website of the To Vima daily, Christodoulides said he was informed by Greek sources in Athens.

The division of the island has caused a headache for Turkish-Greek relations. After moderate Mustafa Akıncı swept the presidential elections in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC) last April, talks with the Greek Cypriot administration have gained new momentum.

Cyprus was split when Turkey intervened on the island in 1974 after a Cypriot National Guard and Greek military junta staged a military coup with the aim of annexing the island with Greece. While UN-backed diplomatic initiatives have failed in the past, the recent round of peace talks have ignited strong hopes for reunification of the island.