The Liberation struggle in Cyprus and the Greek Cypriot Press: The position of the leading Greek Cypriot press Eleftheria, O Phileleftheros and Haravgi in 1957–1960

Abstract

Little is known about the relationship between the anticolonial movement in Cyprus and the role of the Greek Cypriot press. This paper aims to fill a small gap by presenting the findings of a study dealing with the Liberation Movement of Cyprus (EOKA—the National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters) and how it was depicted through the Greek Cypriot press. The period under study is 1957–1960, during which the EOKA movement was active. This study investigates the positions of three leading Greek Cypriot newspapers of that period and aims to present the positions of each newspaper at the level of policy towards the liberation movement. Findings suggest that the Greek Cypriot press under the colonial regime presented the liberation and the ‘Enosis’ (unification) movement more in its news–articles–reports and less in opinion articles and commentaries, while journalists were reluctant to take sides.