Turkish Cypriot journalist prevented from crossing over

By a Staff Reporter

A TURKISH Cypriot journalist has been prevented from crossing from the occupied north to attend the presentation of a book he wrote describing his arrest and imprisonment for articles critical of Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash and the Turkish army.

Sener Levent, the editor-in-chief of Turkish Cypriot daily Afrika, (formerly Avrupa ) was prevented from attending the presentation of his book My motherland is under occupation, which was scheduled for last night at the Famagusta Gate in Nicosia.

In his book, Levent describes his arrest, interrogation, and imprisonment by the occupying regime after he published articles against Denktash and the Turkish army, which were deemed offensive by ‘court’ following suits filed by the Turkish Cypriot leader.

Levent and the Afrika journalist who wrote the article were released after a short while following the international outcry against their imprisonment.

The presentation of the book, however, did go ahead and a message written by Levent was read out during the function.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.