"Turkish press follows the leader
By Stefanos Evripidou
MEMBER of the IMME research team, Muharrem Faiz, presented the major findings for the Turkish Cypriot press during the referenda of April 24 2004.
From the 10 papers circulating in the north, four were connected with political parties. In general, 95 per cent of front-page headlines were devoted to the Annan plan during the period in question. From these, 30 per cent were against the proposed solution or the procedure followed, 39 per cent were in favour of the plan and 26 per cent reflected a more balanced view.
Nearly half of all headline titles either belonged to Rauf Denktash (his own press releases against the plan or those who support it) or concerned the veteran leader (criticisms of him and his negative attitude towards the plan).
Yeniduzen, belonging to the party of Turkish Cypriot �prime minister� Mehmet Ali Talat, wrote 40 headlines in favour of the plan and one against, while Ortam (Mustafa Akinci�s paper) had 52 positive titles and only nine negative ones. Cumhuriyet (associated with Serdar Denktash, son of Rauf) was opposed to the proposed solution with eight negative and one positive title. Volkan belongs to consultants of Rauf Denktash, and was strongly opposed to the solution, with 70 negative titles about the plan. "
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