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CYPRUS
Some 35,000 Turkish troops are stationed in the self-proclaimed
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), founded after Turkey invaded
the northern half of the Mediterranean island in 1974. The island remains
divided into a more prosperous ethnic Greek sector in the south and an
isolated and impoverished ethnic Turkish sector in the north. Cyprus’
capital, Nicosia, is also divided in two, with one side controlled by
the internationally recognized Greek-Cypriot authorities and the other
by the Turkish government.
During 2002, opposition Turkish-Cypriot journalists
in northern Cyprus frequently criticized the TRNC. In response, authorities
and their supporters harassed and intimidated those journalists.
The daily Afrika, based in northern Cyprus,
is known for its critical reporting about senior politicians in Turkey,
Turkish military officials stationed on the island, and Rauf Denktash,
the leader of the northern Cypriot regime. During 2002, the newspaper
reportedly received multiple threats, and two of its editors—Sener Levent
and Memduh Ener—were imprisoned in August and served two months for allegedly
libeling Denktash.
The prison sentences came on the heels of June 30
local elections in the north, in which Denktash’s ruling party retained
power but lost three key cities to the opposition. Denktash also faced
growing international pressure throughout 2002 for obstructing efforts
to reunify the island.
Meanwhile, the European Court of Human Rights in
Strasbourg, France, opened the case of Turkish-Cypriot journalist Kutlu
Adali, who was gunned down outside his home in July 1996. Adali, a left-wing
opposition journalist for the Nicosia daily Yeni Duzen, opposed
Cyprus’ division and criticized the policies of Denktash and Turkey. He
had received death threats prior to his assassination, and an ultranationalist
group with links to Turkish security forces claimed responsibility for
his killing. Turkish-Cypriot authorities failed to investigate the case.
In 1997, Adali’s wife, Ilkay, filed a case against
Turkey with the European Court of Human Rights, claiming that Turkish
and TRNC agents were involved in the murder. The case remained pending
at year’s end.
February 24
Afrika
An unidentified individual called the office
of the opposition daily newspaper Afrika and made a bomb threat,
the newspaper reported. The caller said, “I have placed a bomb in your
printing house, but I pitied you. However, from now on I will not pity
you.”
August 8
Sener Levent, Afrika
Memduh Ener, Afrika
Levent and Ener, editor-in-chief and editor,
respectively, of the opposition daily Afrika, were sentenced to
six months in prison for libeling Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash
in a July 1999 article titled “Who is the number one traitor?” The
newspaper also received a suspended fine of 5 billion Turkish liras (US$3,000), which
the publication will be required to pay if it repeats the offense within
the next two years. The editors were arrested and jailed after the verdict
was announced. On October 3, an appeals court ruled that the journalists’
punishment was too severe, reduced their prison sentences to six weeks,
and released the men, who had already served eight weeks in jail.
October 14
Xavier Vidal Folchs, El País
Folchs, editor-in-chief of the Madrid daily
El País, and 10 other unidentified Spanish journalists, were expelled
from the northern breakaway region of Cyprus. The journalists were visiting
the internationally recognized southern half of the island to participate
in a conference on EU enlargement.
They crossed into the northern half of
the island, which Turkish military forces occupy, to meet with Turkish
Cypriot journalists, opposition activists, and members of nongovernmental
organizations. Police officers and a Turkish Cypriot government official
broke up the meeting and expelled the Spanish journalists to the island’s
southern sector, charging that the group had not identified themselves
as journalists when they crossed into the north.
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