PRIO Cyprus Centre

20/10/2026

PRIO Cyprus Centre Senior Research Consultant Mete Hatay examines how peace efforts in Cyprus become trapped in reciprocal demands and bargaining packages in his article for Diken, “Waiting for the Other Side to Make Peace.”

Reflecting on the Peace Festival in Pyla, Hatay argues that protecting cultural heritage, ensuring access and improving everyday life need not wait for a comprehensive settlement. He asks: Beyond what we expect from the other side, what are we prepared to do—even without a reciprocal response?

Read the full article (in Turkish):

18.10.2026 - Pile köyünde düzenlenen Barış Festivali’nde kadehler kalktı; zeybek ve sirtaki yan yana oynandı. Neredeyse birleşik Kıbrıs’ın gayriresmi marşına dönüşen Dillirga şarkısı da festivalde yankılandı.

22/09/2026

22/09/2026

Meet more of the speakers joining us at .

John Breslow

John Breslow is the United States Ambassador to Cyprus (U.S. Embassy Cyprus), presenting his credentials in September 2026 as the first political, non-career appointee to hold the post, following a background in business and two terms as Nebraska State Auditor.

Stefan Simosas

Stefan Simosas is Head of Cooperation at the EU Programme Support Office in Cyprus since 2022, following senior EU diplomatic postings including Deputy Head of Delegation in Mozambique and roles in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Brazil.

Andreas Sheittanis

Andreas Sheittanis is a Cypriot film director and writer at Parrot with a Carrot, known for the true-crime documentary Pleiades: Victims of a Serial Killer and over a decade of work across Cypriot film and television.

Annika Hilding Norberg

Annika Hilding Norberg is Head of Peace Operations and Peacebuilding at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) and previously spent 21 years as Founding Director of the International Forum for the Challenges of Peace Operations.

Arthur Boutellis

Arthur Boutellis is a Non-resident Senior Adviser at the International Peace Institute, where he was Director of the Brian Urquhart Center for Peace Operations, with field experience supporting UN missions in Mali, Haiti, and the Central African Republic.

Christiana Christodoulides

Christiana Christodoulides is Manager of Central Operations at Bank of Cyprus, holding a degree from the London School of Economics.

Dr Sotiris Themistokleous

Dr Sotiris Themistokleous is Director of Strategic Development at the Center for Social Innovation - CSI, with over 15 years of experience in social innovation and lifelong learning.

Dr. Phil. Carsten Wieland

Dr. Phil. Carsten Wieland is a German diplomat and Middle East expert who served with three UN Special Envoys for Syria as Senior Expert for Intra-Syrian Talks and is a Senior Associate at the PRIO Cyprus Centre and Associate Fellow at the GCSP.

Kristen Talman

Kristen Talman is a journalist covering global affairs and finance, with reporting for Al Jazeera English, Al-Monitor, and the Financial Times, where she was part of the founding team of the award-winning Moral Money newsletter.

Sofia Christodoulou Makri

Sofia Christodoulou Makri was elected President of EDEK in September 2026, previously serving as President of EDEK Youth.

| Shaping Policy Together

09/09/2026

In this episode, we explore the complex history and contemporary character of Turkish Cypriot Islam, a tradition often described as highly secular, private, or even residual. My guest, Mete Hatay (Senior Research Consultant from the Peach Research Institute in Oslo), helps me unpack the many explanations Turkish Cypriots themselves have given for this secularism -- from claims of Alevi or crypto-Christian ancestry to broader narratives shaped by modern Turkish nationalism and a long history of religious marginalization.

We trace Islam’s arrival in Cyprus and examine how early patterns of settlement—including the banishment of heterodox or “undesirable” Muslim groups to the island—shaped the religious landscape. The episode examines how the mid-19th century Ottoman reforms began dismantling these traditions long before modern secularism took hold. We explore how efforts to centralize authority, suppress heterodox practices, and control waqf resources alienated Cypriot Muslims from their own religious institutions. British colonial rule, despite preserving formal autonomy through the Evkaf, further weakened Islamic infrastructure.

We also look at how Cyprus became an unexpected refuge for Young Turks and how, in the early 20th century, Kemalist ideals found unusually fertile ground among Turkish Cypriots--shaping attitudes toward religion, education, and public life for decades to come.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0B2dUwwsEnI9I8q5Exltio?fbclid=IwY2xjawUOZLVwZG9mBWV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkEDIyMjAzOTE3ODgyMDA4OTIAAR49xEOwDArHQyGAyzDSkQc0xA3GncSbnt-BMBBGaOUUxHCoA11xARQXZMpQzg_aem_-W3wqIaMomlySClTT0bd6w

The History of Cyprus Podcast · Episode

11/08/2026

Within its 25 years anniversery program Hands Across the Divide (HAD) is joining the Larnaca Film Festival for a special screening of the documentary 'There Is No Other Cyprus' organised in cooperation with the Larnaka Cinema Society - Κινηματογραφική Λέσχη Λάρνακας, PRIO Cyprus Centre, and UNFICYP

📅 **Saturday, 29 August**
🕗 **20:00–22:30**
📍 **Salina Park, Larnaca**
🎬 **Common Ground Cinema Experience** (in collaboration with Larnaka2030)
🎟️ **Free Admission**

04/08/2026

PCC Senior Research Consultant Mete Hatay gave an interview to the Greek daily TA NEA on the recent visit of UN Secretary-General António Guterres to Cyprus and the prospects for renewed negotiations.

Hatay discussed the need for a credible methodology, a clear timetable and safeguards against another open-ended process. He also reflected on the roles of the UN, the EU, Greece and Türkiye, stressing that international actors can provide a framework and incentives, but that the political will for a sustainable settlement must ultimately come from the Cypriots themselves.

Ο τουρκοκύπριος πολιτικός αναλυτής μιλάει στα «ΝΕΑ Σαββατοκύριακο» για τις πρωτοβουλίες του γενικού γραμματέα του ΟΗΕ και εκτιμά ότι η ρητορική της Τουρκίας έχει ...

02/08/2026

PCC Senior Research Consultant Mete Hatay spoke to the newspaper Politis about how a carefully sequenced package linking the return of Varosha to its former inhabitants, direct trade for Turkish Cypriots, and the extension of the Ankara Protocol could help break the current deadlock and create tangible benefits for all sides

Guterres keeps process hanging by a thread as UN prepares convergences document ahead of possible 5+1. Despite conflicting views on EU’s role, can sides create a win-win situation that takes peace effort out of paralysis?

01/08/2026

PCC Senior Research Consultant Mete Hatay writes for The Levant Files on UN Secretary-General António Guterres’s recent visit to Cyprus and the uncertain prospects for renewed negotiations.

Read “The Light That Appears Before You Isn’t Necessarily the End of the Tunnel” here:

30/07/2026

There Is No Other Cyprus

A compelling documentary that explores the impact of uncontrolled development on the island’s ecosystem, with a particular focus on the development in the northern side of the island.

Language: English and Turkish with English & Greek subtitles

Running time: 45 minutes

A discussion will follow after the screening

Presented in collaboration with the PRIO Cyprus Institute.

The Larnaka Cinema Society is a voluntary, non-profit organization, founded in 1979. Our mission is to promote the art of cinema and contribute to the audience development in our local community.

29/07/2026

PCC Senior Research Consultant Mete Hatay's latest opinion article, "Secretaries-General Come and Go, Cyprus Changes" (Genel sekreterler gelir gider, Kıbrıs değişir), has been published in Turkish Daily Diken. In the article, Hatay reflects on more than five decades of UN engagement with the Cyprus issue, arguing that while successive Secretaries-General have come and gone, the island itself has undergone profound political, social, and geopolitical transformation.

29.07.2026 - Belki de BM ilk kez şunu kabul ediyor: Kıbrıs'ta artık mesele yalnızca çözüm modeli üretmek değil. Önce çözümü konuşabilecek bir siyasi iklim üretmek gerekiyor.