Europe may finally be moving toward a solution to the standoff with Turkey on Thursday. Turkey has reportedly offered to open two seaports unconditionally and one airport in exchange for trade with northern Cyprus. EU President Finland welcomed the move but said it needed clarification. "If Turkey is ready for such an unconditional move, this positive step will influence the council discussions on the continuation of Turkey's EU accession process," said Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja. The apparent concession comes just one week before European leaders are to meet in Brussels to discuss the ongoing dispute between Turkey and Cyprus.

"Turkey is wanting to communicate that it's important to avoid a bigger clash. To that end, it has approached with constructive ideas," Tuomioja confirmed to Reuters. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said that Turkey looked to be "cautiously prepared" to make concessions. Finland will be passing the rotating EU presidency to Germany on Jan. 1.

Turkey's offer may not be unconditional according to the Anatolia news agency, a state owned service in Turkey. According to its report, the offer may depend on the EU resuming traffic to the Ercan Airport and the port of Famagusta, both located in the Turkish-controlled north part of the island.

The EU is currently seeking clarification of the Turkish proposal to see if it fulfills the conditions the 25-nation club has set for continuing negotiations. But the first impressions have been positive. "The Commission considers that the Turkish initiative, if confirmed, is an important step towards the full implementation of the Ankara protocol" -- extending the EU customs union to the 10 new members who joined in 2004 -- EU spokeswoman Krisztina Nagy told reporters on Thursday.

Should the offer be genuine, scrutiny will likely shift to Cyprus. Still, if the opening of Ercan Airport and Famagusta is part of the offer, it is unclear how the offer is substantially different from the Finnish-brokered talks between Turkey and Cyprus which collapsed  at the end of November.

And Cyprus on Thursday confirmed that it would not accept a deal which included the opening up of trade with northern Cyprus. "This can never happen," government spokesman Christodoulos Pashiardis told Reuters. Cyprus is concerned about any move which might look like a recognition of northern Cyprus, which is only recognized by Turkey. Ankara is likewise unwilling to officially recognize Cyprus.

The Turkish army invaded Cyprus in 1974 due to not-unfounded concerns that Greece was preparing to annex the island. Thousands of Greek troops had been ferried over to Cyprus as tensions mounted throughout the 1960s and early 70s. With Cyprus's entry into the EU in 2004, and Turkey's desire to do the same, pressure has mounted on Ankara to officially recognized Cyprus. Both Germany and France recently have been supporting a hardline position  against Turkey, including the partial suspension of accession talks, should Turkey not give in.

When Cyprus joined the EU in 2004, Europe promised Turkey it would resume trade with northern Cyprus -- a promise which Cyprus and Greece have blocked since. In a recent discussion with SPIEGEL ONLINE, Turkey's EU ambassador Volkan Bozkir estimated that opening the Ercan Airport would bring in an additional €1.5 billion a year to largely isolated northern Cyprus, mostly in the form of increased tourism.