Northern Cyprus: Turkish military bar certain media from news conference

Only pro-government media were admitted to a news conference which the Turkish military gave yesterday on the eve of naval manoeuvres near Famagusta bay. Three TV stations - Genc, Kibris and BRT - and the daily newspaper Yenidüzen were denied entry. An officer attached to the army’s bureau for civilian affairs told a BRT correspondent his station was excluded because it broadcast a documentary about the hardships suffered by the population during the darkest hours of the Turkish occupation. The journalists’ union said this kind of discrimination was unacceptable.