''Avrupa'' is a daily newspaper published in

Northern Cyprus Northern Cyprus ( tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs), officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC; tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti, ''KKTC''), is a ''de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the Geography of Cyprus, isl ...

. Its chief editor is

Şener Levent Şener is a Turkish name and may refer to: Given name * Şener Özbayraklı, Turkish footballer * Şener Şen, Turkish actor *Şener Korkusuz (born 1979), Turkish American entrepreneur, American 7s Football League (A7FL) CEO and co-founder Surname ...

. It supports the

reunification of Cyprus The Cyprus problem, also known as the Cyprus dispute, Cyprus issue, Cyprus question or Cyprus conflict, is an ongoing dispute between Greek Cypriots in the south and Turkish Cypriots in the north. Initially, with the occupation of the island b ...

and espouses

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in so ...

values, being characterised in scholarship as radical left.

History

''Avrupa'' and the presidency of Denktaş

The newspaper was first published on 17 September 1997 using the name ''Avrupa'' ("Europe" in Turkish). It opposed the policies of

Rauf Denktaş Rauf Raif Denktaş (27 January 1924 – 13 January 2012) was a Turkish Cypriot politician, barrister and jurist who served as the founding president of Northern Cyprus. He occupied this position as the president of the Turkish Republic of Nort ...

President of Northern Cyprus The president of Northern Cyprus is the head of state of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Rauf Denktaş was the first and founding president of Northern Cyprus, and retired in 2005. His position was taken over by Mehmet Ali Talat, fol ...

at the time, as well as the role Turkey played at the Cyprus problem. This resulted in the newspaper in over 100 lawsuits against the newspaper and attempts to close it down by confiscation of its property. On 29 December 1999, the newspaper was fined 120 billion

Turkish lira The lira ( tr, Türk lirası; sign: ₺; ISO 4217 code: TRY; abbreviation: TL) is the official currency of Turkey and Northern Cyprus. One lira is divided into one hundred ''kuruş''. History Ottoman lira (1844–1923) The lira, along wit ...

s (TL) as a result of lawsuits filed by Denktaş. With the contribution of inflation, the fines reached a total of 200 billion TL in 2001. It was also claimed that the newspaper did not pay its taxes and some of its equipment was confiscated for this reason in November 2001. On 12 December 2001, all property in the newspaper's offices was confiscated and all income that would be generated from sales was seized through the distributing company YAYSAT. In addition, Levent claimed that some members of his journalistic team had been "taken to some place" and threatened by a group that called itself the " National People's Movement".

Annan Plan attack

On November 6, 2004, the newspaper's office was attacked by a crowd of 60

Turkish nationalists Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and ...

because of its support for the recently failed Annan Plan. The protestors chanted various slogans and

death threats A death threat is a threat, often made anonymously, by one person or a group of people to kill another person or group of people. These threats are often designed to intimidate victims in order to manipulate their behaviour, in which case a d ...

while throwing eggs, with the most prominent slogans being "Don't test our patience Afrika", "May the hands break of those who get in the way of

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic ...

" and "We will make your fate worse than the

Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, Albania, Greeks in Italy, ...

Afrin headline

On January 21, 2018, the newspaper attained controversy in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

due to its criticism of the Turkish-led Afrin operation, with the headline being "Yet Another Invasion by Turkey". The article included references and a likening of the operation to the

Turkish invasion of Cyprus The Turkish invasion of Cyprus began on 20 July 1974 and progressed in two phases over the following month. Taking place upon a background of intercommunal violence between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, and in response to a Greek junta-spo ...

. Following Erdoğan's provocative remarks about the newspaper, suggesting that "his compatriots in Northern Cyprus should give the necessary response to this", a crowd of 500 protesters vandalized the newspaper's offices by hurling eggs, stones and water bottles. The police, who were at the scene, watched the incident and did not intervene.

Mustafa Akıncı Mustafa Akıncı (; born 28 December 1947) is a Turkish Cypriot politician who was the president of Northern Cyprus from April 2015 until October 2020. An architect by profession, Akıncı in 1976 became the first elected mayor of the Nicosia T ...

, President of Northern Cyprus, condemned the attack and went to the site during the rally to request extra security for the newspaper, only to be attacked by the crowd himself. A "March for Peace and Democracy" was organized by civil society in response to the attack.

Notable staff or columnists

* Faize Özdemirciler *

Halil Karapaşaoğlu Halil is a common Turkish male given name. It is equivalent to the Arabic given name and surname Khalil or its variant Khaleel. Notable persons with the name include: * Halil Akbunar (born 1993), Turkish footballer * Halil Akkaş (born 1983), Tu ...

Oz Karahan Oz Karahan is a Cypriot political activist, columnist and current president of the Union of Cypriots. Life and political career Born in 1990, Oz Karahan spent his youth in Famagusta before moving back to Larnaca where part of his family originat ...

References