Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Jan 18 2008
Turkey finds most coverage in Greek Cypriot media in 2007
Greek Cyprus ranked first among countries that published or broadcast
the largest number of news items, commentaries and television
programs about Turkey over the past year, a report released by the
Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information showed on
Thursday.
Reviewing a total of 772,843 news pieces, commentaries and television
programs through press consultancies abroad, foreign news agencies
and foreign radio and television programs as well as Web sites, the
directorate discovered that 27,662 of them were news items directly
related to Turkey. In the distribution of these news items among
world countries, Greek Cyprus represented a 22 percent share, ranking
first. According to the report, the Greek Cypriot media mostly
covered debates about the divided island and Ankara’s evaluations of
Cyprus. Ankara does not officially recognize Greek Cyprus over a
conflict on the status of northern Cyprus.
Greek Cyprus was followed by a group of three with 14 percent that
included the Turkic republics, Gulf countries and Armenia, which were
followed by Germany with 12 percent. Iran ranked fourth, the US
ranked fifth, Greece ranked sixth, the UK ranked seventh and France
ranked eighth among the list of counties that covered the most news
items connected to Turkey.
According to the report the controversial presidential election
process, general elections and then Abdullah Gül’s election as
president, the Turkish political situation in general and relations
with the Iraqi and northern Iraqi administrations in the wake of
stepped-up outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) violence were the
main issues that drew intense interest from foreign media. In
addition, issues such as relations with the EU, the passage by a US
House committee of an Armenian resolution that recognizes the killing
of Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire in 1915 as
"genocide," and developments relating to Cyprus were also among the
subjects that found extensive coverage in foreign media.
18.01.2008
SERVET YANATMA ANKARA