Akel has announced that it will not take part in this year's Cyprus Forum, following the withdrawal of Mehmet Harmancı, the Turkish Cypriot 'mayor' of Nicosia, and the departure of Nicosia Mayor Charalambos Prountzos in solidarity with him. In a statement, Akel said Secretary-General Stefanos Stefanou informed the organisers on Saturday that he would not attend. "Other Akel officials who have been invited to the Cyprus Forum will take the same stance," the statement said. "The hysterical rhetoric of the far right cannot determine public debate in our country," Akel said.
The announcement follows the dispute over the title under which Harmancı appeared in the draft agenda of this year's forum. In a statement, the Cyprus Forum said a political party, Elam, had called on the organisers to withdraw Harmancı's invitation, which they made clear they would not do. The organisers said, however, that they had found that the title listed next to Harmancı's name in the draft agenda, based on details supplied by the speakers themselves, was not acceptable to the Greek Cypriot side. They then used the title that had been used in Harmancı's recent meetings with Prountzos. Harmancı subsequently wrote to the organisers to say he was withdrawing from the forum's ceremony, and Prountzos then informed them that he too was pulling out in solidarity. The Cyprus Forum said it understood and respected their decision, apologised for its handling of the matter and said it would continue working for dialogue between the two communities. The forum takes place in Nicosia from 28 to 30 September.
