The Cyprus Media Ethics Committee recently issued a warning to the public broadcaster Turkish News Agency Cyprus (TAK), urging it to amend its mistranslation of a phrase in the Easter message given by Archbishop Georgios, the main representative of the Greek Orthodox Church on the island. 

The island of Cyprus has historically been home to a Greek Cypriot and a Turkish Cypriot community which share many cultural traits but diverge in terms of ethnicity, language, religion, and close ties to Greece and Turkey respectively. In the past, both communities were dispersed over the entire island. However, in 1974 a coup d’état sponsored by the Greek junta government and the ensuing Turkish invasion of the northeastern portion of the island resulted in an ongoing dispute between both communities and the division of the island into two areas separated by a buffer zone under United Nations control. 

While the Republic of Cyprus is a member of the European Union, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which comprises the northeastern portion of the island, is a de facto state recognised only by Turkey and considered by the United Nations to be a territory of the Republic of Cyprus under Turkish military occupation. Furthermore, the dispute has led to the vast majority of the Greek Cypriot population concentrating in the Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Cypriot population in Northern Cyprus.

In his Easter speech, Archbishop Georgios decried the 51-year-long Turkish occupation of northern Cyprus, calling for concerted efforts to “expel the Turkish invader” – in Greek, για εκδίωξη του Τούρκου εισβολέα. 

This, however, was translated by TAK into Turkish as “expel the Turks from the island” (Türkleri adadan kovun), conflating the occupying Turkish military forces to which Archbishop Georgios was referring with the Turkish Cypriot community. 

The ethics committee described this translation as “misleading, out of context, and conducive to hate speech”. It stated also that translating conflict-related content between different languages “demands particular ethical sensitivity,” and noted that misuse of terminology or misinterpretation of idioms can lead to misinformation, especially in conflict regions.

The incident highlights the importance of being aware of the ethical and moral nuances of translation and the need to avoid bias and distortion, particularly in contexts of conflict.