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| Nicosia mayors Charalambos Prountzos and Mehmet Harmanci |
Nicosia mayors Mehmet Harmanci and Charalambos Prountzos led a mass withdrawal from next week’s planned Cyprus Forum, with would-be attendees pulling out after the forum’s organisers ceased referring to Harmanci as a mayor following pressure from Elam.
Harmanci had initially been referred to as the “mayor of [the] Nicosia Turkish Municipality”, but earlier this week, this was changed, with the organisers subsequently referring to him as the “leader of the Turkish Cypriot community of Nicosia”, prompting him to announce that he would not attend.
“As in previous years, I accepted the invitation from the Cyprus Forum to present the peace and democracy awards this year alongside [Prountzos],” he said, adding that the Cyprus Forum had, “following Elam’s reaction”, issued a statement “correcting” its reference to him as mayor.
Elam had said on Wednesday that it was “dismayed to learn that the pseudo-mayor of occupied Nicosia will participate in the Cyprus Forum” and described Harmanci’s attendance at the forum as “utterly unacceptable”.
The party also said that its members had been invited to attend the forum, but that it had “responded unequivocally that if ‘officials’ of the pseudo-state participate, we will not attend”.
Harmanci said that following this reaction, he had “received an email from Cyprus Forum officials stating that ‘the title was changed to prevent the crisis from escalating further’”, but that “as we stated in our response to the Cyprus Forum officials, this cannot be considered a simple case of crisis management”.
Instead, he said, the sequence of events constitutes a “dangerous example of how racist and divisive propaganda, manipulation, and attempts at political intimidation can easily undermine steps taken to promote common sense, mutual respect, and a culture of peace”.
“Elam’s reaction was allowed to create a result which would publicly humiliate the Turkish Cypriot community. I refuse to be part of such an example, either in the north or the south of Cyprus. Therefore, I have informed them of my decision to withdraw from this year’s event,” he said.
CTP’s Toros also withdraws, decries ‘Elam pressure’
Harmanci’s withdrawal was swiftly followed by that of Greek Cypriot Nicosia mayor Charalambos Prountzos, with the Cyprus Forum saying that Prountzos had “informed us that he is withdrawing as well, as a sign of solidarity”.
It added that regardless, “the peace and democracy award will be presented to one Greek Cypriot and one Turkish Cypriot for their contribution to peace and democracy”, before stressing that despite the mayors’ withdrawal, “220 speakers” still planned to attend the event.
However, more withdrawals were to follow, with pro-federal solution Turkish Cypriot political party the CTP’s foreign relations secretary Fikri Toros announcing that his party will not attend the event, describing the change to the title given to Harmanci as “unacceptable” and “the result of Elam’s political pressure”.
“I find it unacceptable, from the perspective of intercommunal relations in Cyprus, which should be developed on the basis of mutual respect, equality, and trust, that the official title of Mayor Harmanci, who was democratically elected by the people, was changed due to political pressure,” he said.
He added that “no platform aiming to foster a culture of peace in Cyprus should, under political pressure, allow one side’s democratic institutions and elected representatives to become a subject of controversy”.
Cyprus Forum statement ‘explicitly dismissive’, Barut says
High-profile lawyer Mine Atli, meanwhile, said that she had initially believed that Harmanci’s decision to withdraw “may have been hasty”, but that she had subsequently been “deeply disappointed by the statement issued by the Cyprus Forum”.
“Rather than acknowledging the concerns that had been raised or offering an apology, the forum chose to emphasise that the event would continue with more than 200 speakers,” she said, before saying that in light of this, she, too, had withdrawn from the event.
Newspaper Ozgur Gazete’s editor-in-chief Pinar Barut, too, criticised the Cyprus Forum’s statement, describing it as “explicitly dismissive”, and saying that “not only did they fail to apologise, they trivialised the matter by saying that ‘we respect [the mayors’] decision to withdraw’”. She then also announced that she would not attend the event.
Other would-be speakers who announced that they would not attend included Turkish Cypriot youth federation chairman Mustafa Ozbilgehan, political pressure group the Liberal Democracy Movement chairman Engin Deniz Gorguner.
Nicosia Turkish Municipality predates Republic of Cyprus
The Nicosia Turkish Municipality predates the Republic of Cyprus, having been first established in 1958, with ophthalmologist Tahsin Gozmen as its first mayor. Mayors were initially political appointees, with the first democratically elected Turkish Cypriot Nicosia mayor being Mustafa Akinci in 1976.
The British colonial authorities then officially recognised Turkish Cypriot local authorities in 1959, while the Republic of Cyprus’ constitution stipulates the existence of Turkish Cypriot mayors.
Harmanci, alongside other Turkish Cypriot mayors, including Famagusta’s Suleyman Ulucay, Kyrenia’s Murat Senkul, Morphou’s Mahmut Ozcinar, Kioneli and Yerolakkos’ Huseyin Amcaoglu, and Ayios Epiktitos and Ayios Amvrosios’ Ceyhun Kirok, have all attended international events, including at the European Parliament, in their capacity as mayors.
Mehmet Harmanci and Suleyman Ulucay at the European ParliamentInstitutions rewrite rules of engagement with Turkish Cypriots to appear more amenable to Elam
However, with Elam now the joint-third largest party in the Republic of Cyprus’ parliament following May’s election, it has gained the ability to exert pressure, both directly and indirectly, on institutions both at home and abroad.
Initiatives taken to bring about the cancellation of events being held by the Turkish Cypriot community over the summer, including a children’s football camp organised by FC Barcelona and a music festival in Kyrenia, began after Elam had initially expressed outrage against their taking place.
Additionally, a number of respected institutions based in the Republic of Cyprus, including media outlets, have quietly attempted to rewrite their rules of engagement with matters related to the Turkish Cypriot community over the summer, so as to appear more amenable to Elam and the people who support the party.
