Language Research

Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus, adopted on August 16, 1960

The 1960 Constitution accorded equal status to the Greek and Turkish languages. All legislative, executive and administrative acts and documents were to be drafted in both languages, while judicial proceedings were to be conducted and judgments drawn up in the language of the parties concerned. (Article 3 and 18, C)

Updated (December 2003)

BROADCASTING LEGISLATION

According to broadcasting legislation and the Constitution of Cyprus, broadcasting time is strictly divided between programs for the Turkish Cypriot Community and the Greek Community. This language policy grows out of the country's complex history in which two communities, Greek and Turkish, must be considered. Since political boundaries, autonomy and separation have not resolved all linguistic issues; Cyprus must evolve a language-sensitive policy.

A government-funded Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CYBC) was the sole broadcaster in the country until commercial stations were legally allowed to begin broadcasting in the early 1990s. The CYBC regularly broadcasts shows in Greek, Turkish, Armenian and English. The Constitution guarantees sound and vision broadcasting for both the Turkish (no less than 75 hours in a seven-day period) and Greek communities. All official broadcasts should be made both in Greek and Turkish.

The 1998 Broadcasting Law 7 (I) governs the licensing procedure and mandates the preservation of the quality of language (for commercial stations only) and the preservation of the national identity and the cultural inheritance of the people of Cyprus (Article 26). The CYBC is charged with conducting the broadcasting services with impartial attention to the interests and susceptibilities of the different communities and with regard to the interests of minority communities in the Republic.

Article 31 of Law 7 (I) states that:

The Minister of Education and Culture, to promote the aims of the linguistic policy, when he considers it necessary, with direction towards the Broadcasting Authority, can determine, in regard to specific programs or all programs of the stations, general or specific criteria to govern the quality of the used language and the conformity with the linguistic policy of the Republic.

Source: Minority-language Related Broadcasting and Legislation in the OSCE, Program in Comparative Media Law and Policy (PCMLP), Center for Socio-Legal Studies, Wolfson College, Oxford University & Institute for Information Law (IViR) (http://www.ivir.nl/index-english.html), Universiteit van Amsterdam (Study commissioned by the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities), April 2003, edited by T. McGonagle (IViR), B. Davis Noll & M. Price (PCMLP), http://www.ivir.nl/publications/mcgonagle/Minority-language%20broadcasting.pdf

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Updated (May 2004)

UN'S PLAN FOR CYPRUS WOULD ENABLE TURKISH TO BECOME AN EU OFFICIAL LANGUAGE

The UN proposed that the Constitution of the United Cyprus Republic (Article 9.1) should have the following wording:

Article 9.1

The official languages of the United Cyprus Republic are Greek and Turkish. The use of English for official purposes shall be regulated by law.

The constitutional text, along with several other laws and agreements, is included in Kofi Annan's plan, entitled “The Comprehensive Settlement of the Cyprus Problem”, which was the subject of the referendum on April 24, 2004.

If Turkish Cypriots living in the north and Greek Cypriots living in the south voted for unified Cyprus, Turkish would then become an EU official language.

According to the language regime set by the plan, both Greek and Turkish would be the state languages, used for drawing up legislative, executive, administrative and judicial acts and documents of the federal government; citizens would have the right to address the federal authorities in any of these two languages and to be addressed in that same language; and all secondary school students would be taught compulsorily both official languages.

This plan also included a Draft Act on Adaptation of the Terms of Accession of the United Cyprus Republic to the European Union, which provided that after fulfilment of the necessary personnel and technical requirements, Turkish shall be an official and working language of the European Union.

Moreover, Kofi Annan's plan also contained the Federal Law on the Official Languages of the United Cyprus Republic.

Source: Mercator News, April 2004, http://www.ciemen.org/mercator/index-gb.htm

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