Cyprus Forum says officials requested change to Mehmet Harmanci’s title

Nicosia, Cyprus. Republic of Cyprus officials asked the Cyprus Forum not to refer to Turkish Cypriot Nicosia mayor Mehmet Harmanci as a mayor, the forum’s executive president, Nicolas Kyriakides, said on Friday.

Forum explains title change

Kyriakides told the Cyprus Mail that Harmanci was initially listed as “mayor of [the] Nicosia Turkish Municipality” based on information supplied by speakers. Elam noticed the title and demanded that Harmanci’s invitation be withdrawn, a demand Kyriakides said the forum rejected outright and never considered.

He said Elam’s statement drew attention to the title, after which the forum received official requests from Republic of Cyprus officials saying it was not accepted by the Greek Cypriot side.

The forum then consulted Greek Cypriot Nicosia mayor Charalambos Prountzos and changed Harmanci’s title to “leader of the Turkish Cypriot community of Nicosia”, a title Kyriakides said the two mayors had used at recent joint meetings. The organisation also wrote to Harmanci.

Kyriakides said the forum’s mistake was not speaking to both mayors before publishing the agenda, as it had done in previous years. He said it proposed changing both mayors’ titles immediately after changing Harmanci’s. Both mayors had appeared at the forum in the previous two years under titles agreed in advance by both sides, he added.

Kyriakides said the forum still wanted the mayors to have equal titles and would welcome them next week or in the future if they agreed on titles acceptable to both.

Harmanci responds

Harmanci said on Friday that the newsworthy aspect of his withdrawal was the solidarity shown by his friend Prountzos. He said it was “never a title issue”, noting that he had taken part in joint events in the south and internationally under the title of leader or representative of the Turkish Cypriot community of Nicosia.