"Both Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus [TRNC] have proven their sincere desire for peace ... but there is more to be done," Gul told reporters, here, after talks with Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat.
"Turkey and the TRNC expect the internaional community to keep their pledges," added Gul, who flew into northern Cyprus, earlier in the day, on his first foreign visit since taking office last month.
He was referring to European Union pledges to ease the economic isolation of the TRNC, as a reward for the overwhelming support of Turkish Cypriots for a UN peace plan to reunify Cyprus in April 2004.
The plan was killed off by a resounding "no" on the Greek Cypriot side in a simultaneous referendum.
The outcome ensured that the Greek Cypriots, who represent the internationally-recognized government in the south, alone, joined the EU in May of that year.
Gul said Ankara would continue to back UN efforts for a Cyprus peace, 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," the president said.
He added that a comprehensive solution would pave the way for regional cooperation between Turkey, Greece, and Cyprus.
Talat and Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos held rare face-to-face talks September 5, in a bid to jump-start the stalled peace process, but no tangible result came out of the meeting.
Cyprus remains a major stumbling block for Turkey's own EU membership bid, with Ankara accusing the Greek Cypriots of using their membership as a leverage to extract concessions on Cyprus.
Turkey occupied the northern third of Cyprus in 1974, in response to an Athens-engineered coup in Nicosia aimed at uniting the island with Greece. It still maintains about 40,000 troops in the north.
Gul was also to address the Turkish Cypriot parliament Wednesday before returning to Ankara.
The president is accompanied by his wife, Hayrunnisa. She is making her first public appearance as first lady, after having kept out of the spotlight amid strong objections by secularists to her Islamic headscarf.
The Cypriot foreign ministry condemned Gul's visit, saying it was "another illegal action by Turkey, and a serious provocation against a member of the European Union."
It was a message "to those who were speculating or had illusions that the emergence of Mr. Gul to the presidency would mean, perhaps, some changes to Turkey's tactics and policies toward Cyprus," it said.
Gul, secular Turkey's first president with an Islamist past, was elected August 28 after four months of political tensions between army-backed secularists and the Islamist-rooted ruling party to which he belongs.
© 2007 Agence France-Presse
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