Cyprus' president on Wednesday denounced fans of Greek Cypriot team APOEL who attacked Turkish team Pinar Karsiyaka after a professional men's basketball match, nearly provoking a diplomatic incident between the rival neighbors.

Communist-rooted Dimitris Christofias, himself a Greek Cypriot, criticized fans of right-wing APOEL for launching the postgame attack after APOEL beat the Turkish side 82-80 in Tuesday night's EuroChallenge Group G game in the island's capital.

"We played a Turkish team, we even won, and some so-called fans, brainless hooligans, had to attack them because they were a Turkish team," Christofias said, adding that the violence created "serious problems" for the government and "provided fuel to Turkish propaganda."

The incident occurred amid ongoing talks between Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu to reunify the island.

No Pinar Karsiyaka members were injured during the melee that started after the final whistle when APOEL fans threw coins and cigarette lighters at the Turkish team, police spokesman Michalis Katsounotos said.

Katsounotos said police prevented a group of APOEL fans from charging the Turkish team's locker room, while tear gas was used to disperse about 500 stone-throwing fans outside the stadium. Three 15-year-olds were arrested while five police officers suffered minor injuries.

Animosity between the Mediterranean neighbors has lingered since the island was split into a Greek Cypriot south and a Turkish Cypriot north in 1974 when Turkey invaded after a coup by supporters of the union with Greece.

The island joined the European Union in 2004, but only the internationally recognized south enjoys membership benefits. Turkey only recognizes the breakaway north where it maintains 35,000 troops.

Turkey's state minister Egemen Bagis, who serves as the chief European Union negotiator, strongly condemned the attack and called on basketball's international governing body FIBA to punish it.

"This inhumane action has nothing to do with sportsmanship and must be punished in the heaviest way," Bagis told reporters as he welcomed Pinar Karsiyaka players arriving in Izmir, Turkey Wednesday.

Bagis said the attack stemmed from "hatred" rooted in Greek Cypriots toward Turks.

"There can be no peace with this fanaticism," he said.

Christofias said Pinar Karsiyaka had wanted to be transported to the breakaway north after the violence, but Greek Cypriot officials "worked all night" to prevent that because it would have cast doubt over the government's ability to provide security to Turkish athletes.

Katsounotos said police instead escorted the Turkish team to its Nicosia hotel where security around the building had been stepped up. The team departed Wednesday without incident.

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AP Writer Selcan Hacaoglu contributed to this report from Ankara, Turkey.