Newspapers in Cyprus
According to POLITICSEZINE.COM, Cyprus is a country located in Asia. The daily press edition in Cyprus is about 50,000 copies, ie. 105 newspaper sex. per 1,000 residents (2000), of which Greek Cypriot newspapers account for 80%. The largest Greek Cypriot newspaper is the independent Phileleftheros (‘The Liberal’, founded in 1955, edition: 26,000 copies). The magazines then in size support the DISY party: Simerini (‘Today’, 1976, 7,900 copies) and Alithia (‘The Truth’, 1952, 5,600 copies). The oldest is the English-speaking Cyprus Mail (1945, 1,500 copies). The oldest Turkish Cypriot newspaper is nationalist Halkin Sesi (‘The Voice of the People’, 1942, 6,000 copies).
Radio was started in 1952 and TV in 1957. The Greek state Cypriot company Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) broadcasts in three radio channels and two TV channels and is financed through the electricity bill and with advertising. Corresponding Turkish Cypriot companies are called Bayrak Radio & TV Kompani (BRTK) with Radio Bayrak (1963) and Bayrak TV(1976). Greek TV (ET1) has been transmitted since 1991 via satellite to Greek Cypriots and Turkish TV (TRT) to Turkish Cypriots. Private radio was allowed in 1990 and private television in 1992. The first private TV channel (O Logos) was started in 1992 by the Greek Orthodox Church. The British military has since 1948 a broadcasting company with two radio channels and one TV channel. Cyprus is an important base for international news agencies to monitor the Middle East. There are 417 radio and 179 TV receivers per 1,000 residents (2000).
Culture
According to ANIMALERTS, despite the multicultural impact that Cyprus has been exposed to for hundreds of years, the island’s culture has remained largely Greek. The many foreign powers that ruled the island did not have the ultimate goal of incorporating it into their kingdoms, but Cyprus always fell into the hands of the power that was dominant in the eastern Mediterranean.
Under the Turkish rule of 1570-1878, the Christian Greek Cypriots were allowed to practice their religion and culture as long as their leaders ensured that taxes were collected for the Sultan. By contrast, Turkish immigration during the Ottoman period meant that another culture was established on the island – a culture that for more than 400 years lived on parallel to the Greek one.
No merger has ever been close. Against each other, Greek and Turkish Cypriots have always emphasized the cultural links with the modernizations Greece and Turkey. But against the foreign occupation powers in Constantinople and then London, both groups identified themselves mainly as Cypriots.
Cypriot modern culture, such as literature and music, has always tended to fall into the shadow of what is produced in Greece, and to some extent Turkey. One of Greece’s top film directors, Michael Cacoyannis (Michalis Kakogiannis), was born in Cyprus but spent his entire career in Greece. The Cypriot film production is very small.
Vasilis Michailidis (1849-1917) is usually regarded as the national call of Cyprus. He wrote, among other things, in the form of Greek called kypriaka, “Cypriot dialect”. Among contemporary Cypriot writers are the poet and the essayist Kiriakos Charalambidis.
2015
December
“Reunion in 2016”
A few days before the Christmas holidays, the Greek and Turkish Cypriot presidents in a joint communique express hopes that both parts of the island will be able to reunite in 2016.
November
Success in the negotiations
UN envoy Espen Barth Eide says that Cyprus leaders have come so far in negotiations that they now have good hope that remaining issues can be resolved “in the near future”. Remaining to be resolved, however, are the most pressing issues, such as the delineation of Greek and Turkish territories, the division of power at the federal level and property rights.
Suspected mass graves should be opened
The Turkish government agrees that excavations may be carried out in 30 suspected mass graves in military territory in northern Cyprus. The question of the fate of missing persons is one of the most difficult in the ongoing negotiations for a possible reunification.
September
Praise from the IMF
The IMF loan agency gives the Cypriot government good grades for its way of implementing the reforms required by the 2013 emergency loans. According to the IMF, the government has also significantly reduced its economic dependence on Greece and thus reduced the risk of being included in continued Greek problems.
Collection in support of reconciliation talks
For the first time, the political leaders of both parts of the island are gathering together with leaders of all major religious communities, both Christian and Muslim, to jointly express their support for the UN-mediated talks on the reunification of Cyprus.
August
The church must sell property
The head of the Cypriot Orthodox Church, Archbishop Chrysostomos, says the church must sell assets to repay debts to banks of EUR 100 million. The church is the country’s largest landowner and has interests in large parts of the business community, but attracted large debts through extensive investments in the later crisis-hit banking sector.
July
New government is formed in the north
Ömer Kalyoncu from CTP forms a new Turkish Cypriot government together with UBP.
June
The government in the north resigns
The Turkish Cypriot government under Özkan Yorgancıoğlu resigns after Mehmet Ali Talat was elected leader of the left-wing CTP.
May
Reconciliation talks resume
Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders agree to resume UN-mediated peace talks. At the first meeting, Akıncı promises to abolish the visa requirement for visiting Greek Cypriots, while Anastasiadis submits detailed maps of minefields that the Greek Cypriots laid out before 1974 on what is now Turkish Cypriot land. “They share the same vision of a united Cyprus,” says UN mediator Espen Barth Eide.
April
Leftist politicians become new president in the north
In the presidential election in Northern Cyprus on April 19, President Eroğlu will receive 29 percent of the vote and will face a second round of Mustafa Akıncı, who received 27 percent. In the crucial election, the independent left-wing politician Akıncı wins with 60 percent of the vote. The 67-year-old Akıncı says he is going to take a lot of effort to try to contribute to a peace agreement. Cyprus’s internationally recognized President Anastasiadis welcomes the election results.
The law on overdue debt is adopted again
Parliament for the second time adopts a law to facilitate banks to recover overdue debts. The new law is adopted with the support of both the right-wing parties Disy and Diko as well as socialist Edek.
February
Russian warships may enter the ports of Cyprus
Cyprus signs an agreement with Russia that gives Russian warships the right to call Cypriot ports. President Putin says that the vessels that are most current are used in international efforts against terrorism and piracy and “therefore need not worry”. Within the EU, there is concern that Russia is trying to forge closer contacts with certain Member States to weaken the Union’s policy towards Russia. Cyprus says that Russian ships have always had the opportunity to enter Cypriot ports but that it has never been formally attached to paper.
Ex-minister receives 15 years in prison in Greece
Former Interior Minister Dinos Michailidis and his son Michalis are both sentenced to 15 years in prison for money laundering in Greece for helping a prominent Greek politician receive millions of euros in bribes for arms deals. Both were extradited to Greece in 2013.
January
Cyprus Airways is closed down
State-owned Cyprus Airways is forced to close down operations following an order from the European Commission to repay more than € 65 million which the company received in state aid in violation of EU rules. The regulations allow state aid to bankrupt companies once, but Cyprus Airways must have received state money on several occasions over a number of years.
