Belgian press – zut alors!

The internet is a great source of information for journalists but also a source of woe if you pick an unreliable source.

A leading Belgian newspaper, La Libre Belgique, published an article on May 20, 2006 mistakenly alluding to two sovereign states in Cyprus, the Turkish Cypriot State and the Greek Cypriot State, according to the Turkish Cypriot press agency.

The names reportedly used by the newspaper were proposed in the UN plan to reunite the island under a bizonal, bicommunal model. The plan was not implemented, however, as it was rejected by 76% of Greek Cypriots. It was accepted by 65% of Turkish Cypriots in a referendum in April 2004.

This mistake follows reports that during an official visit abroad last year, the host country played a national anthem for Cyprus that no one recognised, presumably the proposed national anthem score which was included in the UN plan.

In 1983 the Turkish Cypriots self-declared the ‘Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’ which is recognised only by Turkey.

The Republic of Cyprus, meanwhile, is internationally recognised as the whole island (minus British Sovereign Base Areas) and is recognised by all countries except Turkey.

The EU’s acquis communautaire is suspended in the north until a solution to the decades-old division can be found.

“For the first time, a European press organ referred to North Cyprus as the Turkish Cypriot state” said the Turkish Cypriot press office.