The Greek-Cypriot president of Cyprus said Saturday that reunification is the only path forward, 50 years after Turkish troops invaded and left the island divided.

There is "no other option" but reunification, Nikos Christodoulides told reporters in Nicosia while Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, visiting the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, said there was no benefit to resuming UN-led talks on the future of Cyprus.

"Whatever Mr Erdogan and his representatives in the occupied areas do or say, Turkey, 50 years later, continues to be responsible for the violation of human rights of the entire Cypriot people and for the violation of international law," Christodoulides said after a memorial service in the southern part of Nicosia, Europe's last divided capital.