(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has condemned an attack on the offices of the daily “Kibris” during the night of 6 to 7 May 2004. Three separate bombs exploded in front of the newspaper’s offices, which are located in Nicosia, in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is recognised only by Turkey. No one was injured […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has condemned an attack on the offices of the daily “Kibris” during the night of 6 to 7 May 2004. Three separate bombs exploded in front of the newspaper’s offices, which are located in Nicosia, in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is recognised only by Turkey. No one was injured in the attack.
The organisation urged the leader of the Turkish-Cypriot community, Rauf Denktash, to do everything possible to find and punish the perpetrators of this act of intimidation. RSF also urged him to take the necessary steps to guarantee journalists’ safety.
Three small homemade bombs exploded in front of the paper’s offices on 6 May, at around 11:30 p.m. (local time), causing no damage. No group has admitted responsibility for the attack and an investigation has been launched.
“Kibris” editor Basaran Duzgun said he thought paramilitary or ultra-nationalist groups could be behind the attack. The newspaper backed the United Nations (UN) peace plan to reunite the island, which has been divided since Turkish forces invaded in 1974 in reaction to a Greek-Cypriot ultra-nationalist coup that sought to make the island part of Greece.
Duzgun said “Kibris” journalists and their families had received several death threats in the months preceding the 24 April referendum on the island’s reunification. At the time, the newspaper chose not to make the threats public and sought police protection. The paper’s owner, Asil Nadir, said the threats would not prevent the newspaper from “continuing to support a peaceful solution for the island.”
