Too close and too far: Framing the Iraq and Lebanon wars in the media of North Cyprus

Abstract

International news, especially when it is about war and terror, is often reflected through a local angle especially by those countries which have an interest in or expectation from one of the parties at war. Cyprus is geographically and politically located in a very sensitive part of the world. It represents one of the most problematic areas in the world, and the peace plans related to the island are mostly developed by western powers. The central concern of this study is to examine the main frames and discourses on war through the ways in which the North Cypriot press presented images of the US and European during two wars in the Middle East since the US and Europe were deeply involved in the peace process for the island. The study examines the Iraq War between 20 March and 1 May 2003 and the Lebanon War between 14 July and 18 August 2006 as reported in Kibris and Afrika, two of the most important newspapers in North Cyprus. This study revolves around the argument that although much foreign news coverage depends heavily on news agencies for copy, newspapers connect their readers to these events by inserting local perspectives and angles to the story. The coverage, orientation and framing of news by the mass media of a specific society, when dealing with international subject material, are conditioned by the circumstances that are prevalent within that society. As a country that has historically suffered from colonialism, imperialism, war and conflicts, North Cyprus reads and interprets distant conflicts and wars through its own experience.