Dr Meltem Onurkan-Samani, founding president of the Cyprus Peace and Dialogue Centre (CPDC), has withdrawn from a Cyprus Forum 2026 panel in solidarity with Mehmet Harmancı, while strongly criticising the handling of a dispute over the title used to describe the Turkish Cypriot politician.
Onurkan-Samani announced that she would no longer participate in the panel “Citizens’ Assemblies in Cyprus: From Consultation to Participatory Decision-Making”, saying she had reached the decision “with deep sadness”.
She also highlighted Nicosia Mayor Charalambos Prountzos’ decision to withdraw from the event in solidarity with Harmancı, describing it as an example of the political courage required to build peace in Cyprus.
‘This is not simply about a title’
Onurkan-Samani argued that the controversy goes beyond disagreement over the title used for Harmancı.
Titles and terminology, she said, can be discussed and mutually agreed. The more fundamental issue, in her view, is what happens when pressure from a political force she described as “extremist and exclusionary” results in what she considers the public downgrading of a democratically elected Turkish Cypriot representative.
“De-escalation cannot mean asking those who are being disrespected to accept their public diminishment while accommodating those who created the crisis,” she said.
When that happens, she argued, those investing in peace and cooperation are weakened, while opponents of dialogue receive the message that “intimidation works”.
Reference to ELAM and last year’s Cyprus Forum
Onurkan-Samani recalled that she had also expressed serious concerns last year over the planned participation of ELAM in a Cyprus Forum session at the Ledra Palace.
She said organisers responded to the concerns she raised at the time, allowing her to participate in the event.
She had hoped that experience would strengthen resolve to protect bicommunal spaces and initiatives from political pressure.
Instead, she expressed regret that what she described as “the same underlying problem” had returned this year in a more damaging form.
‘Democracy is not simply numerical majority rule’
Onurkan-Samani also addressed the relationship between federalism, bicommunal cooperation and democracy.
Federalism, bicommunal cooperation and citizens’ assemblies, she said, share a fundamental principle: democracy cannot be reduced to the dominance of a numerical majority.
In a divided society, she argued, a culture of peace must provide the social and political foundation on which federalism and bicommunality are built.
That requires equal treatment, mutual recognition, respect and empathy, as well as safeguards ensuring that the numerically smaller community, less powerful groups or dissenting voices cannot be silenced or downgraded.
Cyprus Forum apology acknowledged
Onurkan-Samani said she had taken note of the subsequent Cyprus Forum apology, but maintained that the seriousness of what happened could not be measured by how many speakers remained on the programme.
“The dignity of a community and its elected representatives cannot be treated as a secondary issue within a much larger programme,” she said.
She nevertheless said she drew encouragement from Prountzos’ decision to withdraw in solidarity, as well as from messages of empathy and respect she said she had received from Greek Cypriots.
According to Onurkan-Samani, those reactions represent a different political culture, one in which people defend the dignity of the other community with the same determination with which they would defend their own.
Withdrawal ‘not a retreat from dialogue’
Onurkan-Samani stressed that her withdrawal should not be interpreted as stepping away from dialogue.
“It is a defence of the conditions that make dialogue meaningful: equality, courage, mutual recognition, empathy and respect,” she said.
She concluded by reaffirming her commitment to working with people from both communities towards a shared future in Cyprus.
