Press Releases

Further to the previous statement regarding the attack against Turkish Cypriot “Afrika” newspaper, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs once again condemns the incident, which was, undoubtedly, the result of the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s public incitement.

While the incidents were taking place, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs contacted the resident Ambassadors of UN Security Council permanent members to intervene with the Turkish Cypriot occupation regime. He also contacted the Head of UNFICYP, urging for its intervention in order to prevent the aggravation of the situation. These actions aimed at averting the danger Cypriot citizens were faced with, in an area not under the Government’s effective control, due to the Turkish military occupation.

Subsequently, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs addressed a letter to the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) Representative on Freedom of the Media, Mr. Harlem Désir, requesting that he condemn the incident and take all necessary measures to protect freedom of expression, of the media and of journalists in the occupied territories of the Republic of Cyprus. Mr. Désir condemned the attack through social media.

At the same time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs instructed its diplomatic missions to urgently raise the issue in relevant bodies of both the European Union and the Council of Europe, underlining Turkey’s responsibility vis-à-vis the human rights situation in the occupied territories of the Republic of Cyprus and requesting the support of these international organizations and their Member-States in order to convey to Ankara the need to fully respect and observe the fundamental freedoms and human rights of all Cypriots in the occupied areas, including the freedom of expression and the media.

The Government continues to monitor the situation.

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