Cypriot Press Research Articles

The talks on the Cyprus problem at Crans-Montana, Switzerland (28.06 – 07.07.17) and the Greek-Cypriot Press: The views of newspapers Alithia, Politis and Haravgi

This paper focuses on the period of negotiations between the Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot community at Crans-Montana, Switzerland, from 28 June to 7 July 2017. It looks into the views of the three leading Greek-Cypriot newspapers of that period and aims to present the positions of each newspaper about the negotiations on the Cyprus problem, at political level. Articles from three newspapers (Alithia, Politis and Haravgi) were studied, with an emphasis on political coverage regarding the negotiations. For the Crans-Montana negotiations on the Cyprus problem, the agenda setting approach was used, according to which, an event becomes an important from a journalist’s perspective, not only because it is unexpected and/ or dramatic, but also because it attracts a great deal of public attention and the significance of the event itself may, for example, lead to intense public judgment, tension or concerns. The research questions of the paper were shaped as follows: Τo what extent were the newspapers in favour of a solution to the problem? Did they have a conflicting or reconciling tone? To what extent did the style and tone of the news items regarding the talks vary depending on the newspaper? To what extent did the news items focus on persons taking part in the talks and the topics of the talks? Were the articles signed or not? Findings suggest that the Greek Cypriot press during the negotiations have faith that the Cyprus issue can be resolved through the talks. The overarching aim is to understand the efforts made to solve the Cyprus problem through the negotiations in Switzerland and to examine the positions of the Cypriot press regarding this thorny and crucial issue, over which the Republic of Cyprus has been agonising for more than forty years.

Peace Journalism Strategy for Creating a Public Value Sphere

ABSTRACTThis article describes a peace journalism model for conflict resolution based on collaboration within a public forum established by using alternative media. In other words, peace journalists have initiated a new type of public sphere that helps to overcome the inadequacies of the liberal peace agenda. The article proposes that reconciliation is enhanced by shifting the emphasis to collaborative engagement in order to create shared values and common principles. The unique contribution of this study is expanding Galtung’s peace journalism approach to conflict resolution to include using communication media to create a public sphere that establishes shared values. Thus, the article presents a viable dialogic and dialectic model for conflict resolution in Cyprus with its peace journalism response to criticisms regarding the role of the Cypriot press. Consequently, the developed model establishes an example for the regions in the world where ethnic conflicts are experienced.

Evaluating and Constructing the ‘Friend’ in Crisis. Mediated Depictions of Russia in the Newspapers of Cyprus

The main purpose of the present studyis to explore and evaluate the diachronic relations between Russia and Cyprus, noting their historical context and to examine the perceived image1 of Russia in the Cypriot press, during the crucial period of Eurogroup’s decisions of March 2013.In 1878 the UK rented Cyprus from the Ottoman Empire in exchange of a British promise to help Turkey against Russia. In 1914, the UK annexed the island and Cyprus became a British Colony because the Ottoman Empire entered the First World War on the side of the central powers. According to the Treaty of Lausanne (1923), the Ottomans quitted all of their requirements on Cyprus-and the new status led the UK to declare the island as a Crown’s colony in 1925 (Stavrinides 1975, p.2). This event coincided with the creation of the Communist Party of Cyprus (1926) as a blueprint for the global resonance that the Bolshevik movement gained, expressed in the October 1917 Revolution. These events resulted in cultivating within the working class of Cyprus, a communist ideology which, over time, founded the Cypriot Left. Apart from the ideological associations or the religious ones, on the basis of common doctrine, since 1960, after the founding of the Republic of Cyprus, these relations have become transnational in political and economic terms.

The Jewish detainees in the narrations of the Greek-Cypriot Press (1946–49)

ABSTRACTThe 1940s in Cyprus, was extremely sensitive to national movements and balances. That’s why the people of the island were not indifferent to the sudden arrival of Jewish refugees. This article describes the history of the Cyprus camps, in which the British forcibly detained tens of thousands Holocaust survivors who had sought to brave the British naval blockade of Palestine, from the perspective of the Greek Cypriot press. Two main coverage prisms can be discerned: description of the British policy and its effects on the Jewish refugees, and the effects of the establishment of the camps for Cyprus’s local population.

Understanding media debate around migration: The relation between favorable and unfavorable representations of migration in the Greek Cypriot press.

Continuous and increasing worldwide migration has sparked an intense social debate in multiple forums. Media play a key role in constructing, monitoring, and framing this debate. This study focuses on a qualitative analysis of the media debate around migration in Cyprus via (a) studying how migrants are represented in the Greek Cypriot Press and (b) assessing, the extent and the way in which favorable and unfavorable representations around migration are in dialogue. Toward this end, thematic and dialogical analyses were conducted on articles published in 4 daily Greek Cypriot newspapers between 2011 and 2015. Findings showed that migrants were constructed in economic (e.g., as assets to economy) and humanitarian (e.g.. as victims) terms in the favorable representations, whereas in the unfavorable ones, migrants were constructed primarily as a threat to the local economy, to security, and to the nation's culture and existence. In terms of the relation between the 2. favorable representations engaged more clearly and in more detail with alternative representations of migrants than unfavorable ones. Favorable representations focused more on countering negative representations of migrants while unfavorable representations focused more on countering negative representations of the authors (e.g., being racist), through disclaimers. Nevertheless, authors of favorable representations managed alternatives by stigmatizing those who held opposing views and did not elaborate on their arguments. These findings speak to the superficial and polarizing character of the debate and point to implications for further research on the relation between the different stances on migration in other forums such as social media and TV.

What Went Wrong in the Cyprus Negotiations? The Three Elements That Led to Failure

Abstract In the wake of the interruption of the negotiations in mid-2017, this study aims to investigate and underline the reasons that led to the new failure in the Cyprus talks. Why did the negotiations collapse after a remarkable two-year effort? Who were the main protagonists in this fiasco? What were the main points of disagreement at the negotiations’ table? What were the disputes in the fields of security and equality? What was the role of local society in the failure? This analysis attempts to answer the questions mentioned above by putting the official positions of the two sides and the related opinion articles and publications which have had an impact on the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot press, under its microscope.

The Cyprus Peace Talks at Mont Pelerin (7-11 and 20-21 November 2016) and the Greek Cypriot Press: The Positions of Cypriot Newspapers Alithia, Politis and Haravgi

This text is based on research aiming to record the period of negotiations at Mont Pèlerin, Switzerland between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot community in November 2016. Articles from three newspapers (Alithia, Politis and Haravgi) were studied, with an emphasis on political coverage regarding the negotiations. The choice of newspapers was based on the fact that they have been around for many decades, they have a different ideological orientation and they have contributed to the modern history of Cyprus. Moreover, they all have a full electronic archive of their issues which makes it easy to access and study the articles.The overarching aim is to understand the efforts to solve the Cyprus problem through the recent negotiations in Switzerland and to examine the positions of the Cypriot press regarding this thorny and crucial issue over which the Republic of Cyprus has been agonising for more than forty years.

The Liberation struggle in Cyprus and the Greek Cypriot Press

Little is known about the relationship between the anticolonial movement in Cyprus and the role of the Greek Cypriot press. This paper aims to fill a small gap by presenting the findings of a study dealing with the Liberation Movement of Cyprus (EOKA—the National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters) and how it was depicted through the Greek Cypriot press. The period under study is 1957–1960, during which the EOKA movement was active. This study investigates the positions of three leading Greek Cypriot newspapers of that period and aims to present the positions of each newspaper at the level of policy towards the liberation movement. Findings suggest that the Greek Cypriot press under the colonial regime presented the liberation and the ‘Enosis’ (unification) movement more in its news–articles–reports and less in opinion articles and commentaries, while journalists were reluctant to take sides.

News Translation and Translation Ethics in the Cypriot Context

In news translation, some of the most prominent issues still debated on concern news translation as gatekeeping, the application of traditional models and the issue of the very definition of translation itself. Within this context, this paper will focus on the use of translation in news production in the Cypriot context. Data from Cypriot newspapers and the Cypriot Press and Information Office (PIO) point to the assumption that translation is used for disseminating national policy in ways which might stand in a conflicting relationship with issues pertaining to translation ethics. While news reporting is almost by necessity a carrier of national ideology, the same cannot be assumed automatically for material which is translated. The ultimate aim is to show how national ideologies violate the desired informativity of news and to challenge the ethical ‘‘uniformity’’ observed between news reporting and news translation, in favor of a higher ethical awareness on the part of journalists and newspapers. The underlying premise of the article is that news translation could perhaps be treated according to the same ethical considerations as translation in the conventional sense, despite the recontextualization and filtering of the content expressed.

Diverse media, uniform reports: An analysis of news coverage of the Cyprus problem by the Turkish Cypriot press

This article explores the representation of the Cyprus problem by the Turkish Cypriot press. Studying the news content of Turkish Cypriot daily newspapers from three periods of time, it highlights the discourses, strategies and practices deployed in the selection and treatment of events relating to the Cyprus issue. It produces a picture of current journalism practices that is characterised by lack of diversity, dependence on official sources and the dominance of nationalist discourses. The article goes on to question whether the Turkish Cypriot media can play a role in establishing a democratic, pluralistic society in North Cyprus and, as the peace process continues on the island, what role they might play in promoting peace between the bifurcated communities of the island.

Too close and too far

International news, especially when it is about war and terror, is often reflected through a local angle especially by those countries which have an interest in or expectation from one of the parties at war. Cyprus is geographically and politically located in a very sensitive part of the world. It represents one of the most problematic areas in the world, and the peace plans related to the island are mostly developed by western powers. The central concern of this study is to examine the main frames and discourses on war through the ways in which the North Cypriot press presented images of the US and European during two wars in the Middle East since the US and Europe were deeply involved in the peace process for the island. The study examines the Iraq War between 20 March and 1 May 2003 and the Lebanon War between 14 July and 18 August 2006 as reported in Kıbrıs and Afrika, two of the most important newspapers in North Cyprus. This study revolves around the argument that although much foreign news coverage depends heavily on news agencies for copy, newspapers connect their readers to these events by inserting local perspectives and angles to the story. The coverage, orientation and framing of news by the mass media of a specific society, when dealing with international subject material, are conditioned by the circumstances that are prevalent within that society. As a country that has historically suffered from colonialism, imperialism, war and conflicts, North Cyprus reads and interprets distant conflicts and wars through its own experience.

Kıbrıs'tan Türkiye'ye Yapılan Göçlerin Kıbrıs Türk Basınına Yansımaları (1923-19

The Lausanne Peace Pact and English Sovereignty upon Cyprus were officially recognized by Turkey. Moreover, the 19th and 20th acts of the pact made clear the citizenship issue and for those who decided to stay Turkish citizenship were provided leaving the island. On the basis of these acts the migration which started in 1923 was in progress till 1938. Especially, the high school graduates who were known as nationalists and Ataturkist/Kemalist stayed in the island. Staying on the island was regarded as ‘Revilement’ to the nationalism, enlightens and literate people preferred to leave the island. The prominent newspapers of the Cypriot press “Dogru Yol” and “Soz gazeteleri”– which were known with the closeness to the Turkey – have supported the migration. In spite of that, the newspapers ‘Birlik’ and ‘Ses’ which was published for first time in 1935 took a stand against the migration. In this study, based on the news from the Turkish press newspapers Dogru yol, Soz, Birlik, Hakikat, will be emphasized the problems of the Cypriot Turks in the island after the Laussanne Peace Pact and the views about the migration of Cypriot Turks from the island to the Anatolia.

Formants Portrayed in the Turkish Cypriot Press November 15 Ceremonies (Repuplic Day)

Formants Portrayed in the Turkish Cypriot Press November 15 Ceremonies (Repuplic Day)

DISTURBING THE PEACE

This article explores the structures of both the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot press in Cyprus in order to consider the role that gender plays in the construction and distribution of knowledge in Cypriot society. The question is whether columns published across the ideological spectrum in both the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot daily press challenge preconceived notions of gender in the broader communities or whether they reproduce and reinforce previously held patriarchal views of the roles of men and women as citizens in Cyprus. Such views, it is argued, have systematically marginalized women from visible participation in offering alternative futures for the Cypriot communities in Cyprus and relegated them to the position of secondary agents who more often than not play the role of bringing to fruition the imaginings of their male counterparts.

Bodies of Evidence: Burial, Memory and the Recovery of Missing Persons in Cyprus (review)

Reviewed by: Bodies of Evidence: Burial, Memory and the Recovery of Missing Persons in Cyprus Spyros Spyrou Paul Sant Cassia , Bodies of Evidence: Burial, Memory and the Recovery of Missing Persons in Cyprus. New York: Berghahn Books. 2005. Pp. x + 246. Cloth $75.00. Sant Cassia's book is the most comprehensive and analytically sophisticated study of a topic that has occupied center stage in the Greek Cypriot popular imagination since the 1974 Turkish invasion of the island, namely, the issue of the missing persons. The research community's relative silence regarding the issue of missing persons in Cyprus attests perhaps to Sant Cassia's observation that for many years, and until recently, the topic itself was too sensitive to allow for an open and in-depth investigation. In this book Sant Cassia is concerned with exploring memory and, more precisely, with the political economy of memory, by which he means how memories are produced and consumed, distributed, and exchanged (p. 2). The author uses metaphors from Greek tragedy, primarily the characters of Antigone and Creon, to discuss, on the one hand, the respective roles of the relatives of the missing (both Greek and Turkish Cypriot) and, on the other hand, the political authorities or the State. Sant Cassia's argument is that Creon, by claiming to speak on behalf of his Antigone, managed to maintain his rule by fabricating stories that served his own respective political agendas. For the Republic of Cyprus this has meant the fabrication of the story of the missing persons, the agnooumeni, who are missing and potentially recoverable; for the Turkish Cypriot authorities, it has meant that the disappeared ones, the kayipler, were constructed not as missing but as sacrificial victims, as dead or lost and hence beyond recovery. In this way both communities have advanced their political ideologies and strategies: for the Greek Cypriots, the recovery of the lost territories, and for Turkish Cypriots, the clear message to the rest of the world is that Greek and Turkish Cypriots cannot live together and that the establishment of their own state, the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus," is therefore justified. Sant Cassia is at his best when he draws upon art and ethnography to illustrate the utility of explicating one through the other. Rather than becoming reductionist, the use of art to interpret the ethnographic evidence becomes empowering and revealing of the underlying significance of the reconstructed past; though it is pieced together from the individual stories of those involved, the narrative of the missing is always larger and requires creative imagination on the part of the ethnographer, much like that of the artist. [End Page 129] The author describes how the Greek Cypriot story of the missing was produced to prevent closure: in some cases the political representatives of the missing, despite the fact that they knew that some of the missing were really casualties, refrained from passing on such information to the relatives while at the same time the Greek Cypriot press engaged in self-censorship. The State was thus able to continue blaming Turkey at the diplomatic level for the lack of progress in determining the fate of the missing, while at the same time some of the relatives could continue enjoying special privileges and entitlements (e.g., scholarships, housing benefits, etc.) because of their status as relatives of the missing persons. Sant Cassia illustrates how memory has been manufactured on both sides of the divide to serve the strategic goals of the political authorities; not through a process of repression of private memories, but rather through constructing particular versions of the past which allowed the elaboration of certain kinds of memories. The Republic of Cyprus has reinforced the uncertainty regarding the fate of the missing "by ensuring the continuing presence of the Missing as legal individuals, through salaries, pensions, and representation of their legal rights as property-holding individuals" (p. 87). By continuing to view the missing as a liminal category, Greek Cypriots continue to mourn but also deny their death. To acknowledge that the missing are dead, or in other words, not recoverable, would symbolically signal that the occupied territories are also lost forever; an admission that could never be...