NICOSIA — The legitimate government of Cyprus – a member of the European Union – is said to be furious that United Nations Special Envoy Jane Holl Lute, an American diplomat, recommended recognizing the Turkish-Cypriot northern third of the island occupied since an unlawful 1974 Turkish invasion.

Lute was apparently trying to appease or encourage Turkish-Cypriots to move toward reunification by using the words “two self-governing regions” in a report and told Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades.

That was reported by Phileleftheros, the largest and oldest Greek-Cypriot daily on the island, said Turkey's pro-government newspaper The Daily Sabah.

UN Security-General Antonio Guterres might still use the term, the report said although the Cypriot government rejected it, complaining it would bring recognition to an occupied territory in an EU country.

Lute's move was an apparent attempt to get Turkish-Cypriot hardline leader Ersin Tatar to give up his insistence that the occupied side be recognized as a republic, as he said he will not talk reunification after decades of failure by a long line of diplomats, envoys, politicians and leaders.

Anastasiades wants a federation style government keeping Greek and Turkish zones granted more authority to run their own affairs after every attempt to find a unification agreement has utterly failed.