Dr. Meltem Onurkan-Samani is the founder and general coordinator of the Cyprus Peace and Dialogue Centre (www.cypdc.org). With a Ph.D. in history, she specializes in the socio-political history of Cyprus and the role of history education in conflict and peace processes. Over the course of 25 years, she has taught history and politics at various universities. As a former special advisor to the then Turkish Cypriot leader, President Mustafa Akıncı, Dr. Onurkan-Samani played a pivotal role in coordinating UN-led bicommunal technical committees from 2015 to 2020. Additionally, she served as the founding co-chair of the bicommunal technical committee on Education.

Between 2004 and 2009, she co-authored the revised history textbooks in the Turkish Cypriot community, attracting international attention. From 2003, following the opening of crossing points in Cyprus, she collaborated with Greek Cypriot educators within the Association for Historical Dialogue and Research (AHDR) https://www.ahdr.info/. Dr. Onurkan-Samani was among the authors of AHDR’s supplementary educational materials tailored for both communities of Cyprus.

She played a pivotal role in the establishment of the Home for Cooperation (H4C) https://www.home4cooperation.info in the Buffer Zone in 2011 through AHDR’s initiatives. She also served as co-chair of both AHDR and H4C for a period.