Establishing Independent Media Center in Northern Cyprus

A number of non-governmental organizations opened the way for an online news portal in Northern Cyprus to make their media voices be heard.

The Independent Media Center project is run by The Management Center. In a conference and workshops held in the Northern Cyprus capital of Nicosia (Lefkoşa) last weekend Hugh Pope from the International Crisis Group (ICG) and Erahn Üstündağ from bianet talked about the media and its relationship with non-governmental organizations. A total of 50 people attended the conference.

NGO representatives from different working areas criticized how their activities become distorted in the media. Pope and Üstündağ referred to their own experiences and explained how this problem can be handled.

"Proper work will find its place in the media"

Pope emphasized the NGOs should not take action for the mere reason of appearing in the media. Instead, the media will not miss out anyway on publishing or broadcasting about work that is done properly. As an example he named the ICG, which will extend the organizations' spheres of influence by utilizing the internet.

Üstündağ indicated that in times when the public role of the media remains in the background, communication efforts need to be increased, focusing on independence from the state and the capital, on public benefit, the struggle for rights for social groups and on the strife for freedom. He added that 10 years of experience with bianet show that even though it is difficult, it is possible to create a media that is aware of these concerns and that does not turn into dominant media.

In the workshops the participants worked on topics like interview techniques and news writing.

The project

The project is carried out with financial support from the European Union and will last for a duration of 22 months. It is aimed at developing relationships between the local media and the NGOs and at increasing the NGOs communication capacity.

The main news source in Northern Cyprus is the Turkish Cypriot Agency (TAK), which is under control of the government. The project coordinators emphasized that under these circumstances the coverage of NGO activities is biased. For this reason they aim to establish a network including independent professional journalists and NGO representatives.

NGOs currently participating in the network:

Mediterranean-European Art Association, Green Peace Movement, Lefke Environment and Promotion Association, Güzelyurt District Development and Progress Association, Turkish Cypriot Human Rights Foundation (KTİHV), Turkish Cyprus Diabetes Association (KTDD), Traffic Accident Prevention Association, Kemal Saraçoğlu Children with Leukemia and Cancer War Foundation, Cyprus Educational Sciences Association, Turkish Cyprus Journalists' Association, Community Center Life Support from Women Association and Northern Cyprus Underwater Society.

Members of the board coordinated by Serra Garip are as follows: Dr. Bülent Kanol, president of KTDD Emete İmge, KTİHV coordinator Mustafa Abitoğlu, Havadis newspaper editorial director Hüseyin Ekmekçi, Sim TV general manager Aysu Basri, Dr. Güral Hüdaoğlu from Near East University and Dr. Bekir Azgın from Eastern Mediterranean University.

Also participating in the network are Cem Kar from Ada TV, Belgin Demirel from BRT radio, Hasan Kahvecioğlu from Radio Mayis (May) and Ali Baturay from the Kıbrıs (Cyprus) newspaper. (EÜ/VK)