NICOSIA, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Cyprus’ president said on Wednesday he was ready to immediately resume reunification talks over the ethnically divided island, urging regional rival Turkey to also engage in the effort.

“We cannot change geography. It is an opportunity, not a curse. Turkey and Cyprus will always remain neighbours,” Nikos Christodoulides said in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

“I adamantly believe we can carve a new path, one of peace, cooperation and collaboration,” he said.

Cyprus was split decades ago in a Turkish invasion after a brief Greek-inspired coup, and preceded by years of sporadic violence between Greek and Turkish Cypriots.

Reunification talks collapsed in mid-2017 and have been at a stalemate since.

A Turkish Cypriot breakaway state in northern Cyprus, backed only by Turkey, wants a two-state deal where its sovereignty is recognised. Greek Cypriots say the only framework available is that defined by U.N. resolutions calling for reunification under a bizonal, bicommunal federation.

“I am committed and I am ready to sit at the negotiating table today. Not tomorrow. Today,” Christodoulides said.

On Tuesday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told the U.N. General Assembly that the federation model “has now completely lost its validity”, saying there were “two separate states and two separate peoples” on the island.

“The sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriots, which are their inherent rights, should be reaffirmed, and the isolation should now come to an end,” he said.

He later told U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres that a meeting between the sides under the auspices of the U.N. to discuss models other than a federation could help, his office said