Cyprus' president says he won't agree to lifting a veto on Turkey's EU membership talks unless it recognizes Cyprus as a state.

Speaking Tuesday after talks with EU Council President Donald Tusk, Nicos Anastasiades said unblocking Turkey's path to EU membership at this time would also undermine ongoing talks aimed at reunifying the ethnically divided country.

Anastasiades said it's "unwarranted, counterproductive and not to mention unacceptable" to shift the burden of Europe's massive migration crisis to Cyprus.

Turkey has demanded that Cyprus lifts its veto on five of 35 policy areas in its EU accession talks in order to agree to a deal with the European Union to take back thousands of migrants.

Cyprus was split in 1974 when Turkey invaded after a coup aiming at union with Greece.