"We will maintain our determined position on this issue," Babacan, during a one-day visit to the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), told reporters after talks with Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat.
"No one should expect unilateral steps from Turkey, there will be no such steps," he said.
Last year, the EU froze accession talks with Turkey in eight of the 35 policy areas that candidates must negotiate, in response to Ankara's refusal to allow Greek Cypriot vessels to use its sea-and-air ports under a customs union pact with the bloc.
Ankara counters that the European Union has failed to keep pledges of easing Turkish Cypriots' economic isolation by channeling aid to the TRNC, which is recognized only by Turkey.
The EU made the promises in April 2004 as a reward to the "yes" vote that Turkish Cypriots gave to a UN-drafted peace plan to end Cyprus's long-standing partition.
The plan was killed off by a resounding "no" at a simultaneous referendum on the Greek Cypriot side, whose community outnumbers the Turkish Cypriots three-or-four to one, and which represents the internationally-recognized government of the island.
The outcome led to the Greek Cypriots alone joining the EU in May 2004.
"It is unfair to create difficulties for, and make extra demands from, the party which favors a settlement, while rewarding the party opposed to a settlement," Babacan argued.
"We expect the international community to end the discrimination and isolation of the Turkish Cypriot people," he said.
Turkey accuses the Greek Cypriots of using their EU veto power to block the Union from delivering its promises to the TRNC, and snag progress in Ankara's own membership bid to extract concessions on Cyprus.
Babacan said Ankara continues to favor the island's reunification within a bi-zonal federation, based on political equality between the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot communities.
"It is a futile dream to expect the Turks to give up this and agree to living in the island as a minority," he said.
The Cyprus government has said it was lodging protests with the United Nations and the EU over what it termed an "illegal" visit, last month, by Turkish President Abdullah Gul, and his remarks about a religious divide on the island.
Cyprus has been divided along ethnic lines since 1974, when Turkey occupied its northern third with the stated aim of protecting Turkish Cypriots in the wake of an Athens-engineered coup in Nicosia, aimed at uniting the island with Greece.
Turkey maintains about 40,000 troops in the TRNC and supports it economically.
© 2007 Agence France-Presse
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