THE TURKISH PRESS IN CYPRUS 1878 - 1900

Mavi Boncuk |

THE TURKISH PRESS IN CYPRUS 1878 - 1900


It is said that the first Turkish newspaper in Cyprus was "Ümid" which was launched in 1881. However, there are no copies left of this paper. The first newspaper determined for certain was "Saded" (1) which was first published on 11 July 1889. There are also no copies left of this newspaper which was published by Ahmet Emin Efendi, a financial director in Limasol.

The second newspaper introduced by Cypriot Turks was "Zaman". Its publication started on 25 December 1891 and it belonged to the Ottoman Coffee House, an intellectual club. Its publisher was Hacı Derviş Efendi.

At the time when Zaman newspaper was launched, there were 9 Greek cypriot newspapers in the island. Of these, one was official, one was published in British and seven in Greek. All of them incited ENOSIS continuously. The names of these newspapers were as below:

1-) The Times of Cyprus: Weekly, British.

2-) The Owl: Weekly, British.

3-) Kipros: Weekly, Greek.

4-) Fonitis Kipru: Weekly, Greek.

5-) Salpinks: Weekly, Greek.

6-) ENOSIS: Weekly, Greek.

7-) Evagoras: Weekly, Greek.

As Zaman newspaper was split in itself as "Sultan supporters" and "Young Turkists", a group of intellectuals started "Yeni Zaman" on 22 August 1892.

Another newspaper in that period was "Kıbrıs". Küfizade Mustafa Asaf Bey launched this paper on 6 March 1893. The publication principles of Kıbrıs newspaper were as follows:

"1-) Fighting against the Greek press.

2-) Approaching facts in the light or truth, preventing untrue news.

3-) Serving for Turkish culture and public.

4-) Supporting the Young Turk cause".

Kıbrıs was the continuation of Yeni Zaman. Yeni Zaman closed down after 28 issues and replaced with Kıbrıs newspaper.

For 2 years (issues 1-600), Kıbrıs published the translations of various news and articles "without comment". These translations spread light on the social life, economic situation, actual events and relations between the two communities in Cyprus as well as establishing a valuable source for researchers that dealt with the past. The translations by Researcher Harid Fedai was published with the title "From the Old Press of Ours" a century after it was firs published.

SOURCE:
İsmail, Sabahattin-; Kıbrıs Sorununun Kökleri (İngiliz Yönetiminde Türk-Rum İlişkileri ve İlk Türk-Rum Kavgaları), Akdeniz Haber Ajansı Yayınları, İstanbul 2000.

FOOTNOTES:
1) Cyprus Blue Book, 1889-1890, Londra, s. 417.