Mehmet Harmanci on Friday thanked Nicosia Mayor Charalambos Prountzos for withdrawing from next week’s Cyprus Forum in solidarity with him, saying it was Prountzos’ decision, rather than his own withdrawal, which deserved attention.

In a message published in Turkish, Greek and English, Harmanci described Prountzos as his “dear friend” and thanked him for his “courage, empathy, solidarity and commitment to peace”.

“What deserves to be highlighted from the recent events surrounding the Cyprus Forum is not my withdrawal. It is the solidarity of my dear friend, Mayor Charalambos Prountzos,” he said.

The two had been due to jointly present the forum’s Peace and Democracy Awards, as they had done in previous years, but both pulled out following a dispute over the title used for Harmanci in the programme.

Harmanci was initially listed as “mayor of [the] Nicosia Turkish Municipality”, before the designation was changed to “leader of the Turkish Cypriot community of Nicosia”. The change followed objections from Elam, which had protested against Harmanci’s participation under the original title.

On Friday, Cyprus Forum executive president Nicolas Kyriakides said the request not to refer to Harmanci as a mayor had come from “Republic of Cyprus officials”. The forum said it had rejected calls to withdraw Harmanci’s invitation.

Harmanci said on Friday that the dispute had never been about the title itself.

“I have participated in many joint events in the south, as well as abroad, with the title of leader, or representative, of the Turkish Cypriot community of Nicosia,” he said.

“My priority has always been to make use of every available platform to support reconciliation and meaningful cooperation between the two communities.”

He said the problem had been what he described as the forum’s response to a “racist and divisive propaganda machine”.

Harmanci said his decision to withdraw had been difficult and taken after careful consideration. He had deliberately communicated it directly to the organisers without making a public announcement.

“His was the courageous decision,” Harmanci said of Prountzos.

“Dear Charalambos, on behalf of all Cypriots who still believe in peace and the reunification of Cyprus, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your courage, empathy, solidarity and commitment to peace.”

He said their original aim in agreeing to appear together had been to strengthen dialogue, trust and cooperation between the two communities.

“This time, we achieved it by leaving together,” he said.

Harmanci added that regardless of titles or positions, the two would continue to stand together against forces which, in his words, sought to spread hatred and division on either side of the island.

“We will continue to work together, walk together and, when necessary, leave together, unwaveringly, to build more bridges across Nicosia,” he said.

“Peace is not built with fear, it is built with courage.”

A number of other participants have also announced their withdrawal from Cyprus Forum panels following the dispute, including bicommunal initiatives representative Meltem Onurkan Samani, journalist Pinar Barut and the Association for Historical Dialogue and Research.

CTP MP Fikri Toros also withdrew, saying the change to Harmanci’s title as a result of what he described as political pressure from Elam was unacceptable.

TDP leader Zeki Celer, whose party Harmanci comes from, meanwhile described the change as an intervention in the “institutional will of Turkish Cypriots”.

The Cyprus Forum is due to take place in Nicosia from September 28 to 30.