“The British Press and the Greek-Turkish relations” – Interview of Despina Afentouli on Economist

Interview of Despina Afentouli on Economist – Intelligent Life magazine, issue 5, p. 119 on her book entitled, “The Position of the British Press on the Greek-Turkish relations, 1955-1965”

The British Press and the Greek-Turkish relations

Despina Afentouli, Sociologist-Journalist (Ph.D.)

The main aim of this book is to present the position of the British Press on Greek-Turkish matters during the decade between 1955 and 1965. The originality of this book is the study of primary sources of the newspapers The Times and The Guardian, regarding the presentation of the actions of the National Organization of Greek Cypriot Fighters, as well as the presentation of the further progress on the Cyprus Issue, the expulsion of Greeks of Constantinople in 1955, the elections in Greece and the extensive reference to persons politically active in the country [Greece]. Moreover, the relations between the British Mass Media, the power centers, the pressure groups and the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office, are all under investigation and the obvious attempt of the British Press to promote in a discreet way, but strictly, the political aims and positions of the British foreign policy have been [also] found out. At the same time, it has been thoroughly researched the issue of “objectivity” in journalism profession, especially when reporting on complex political issues, such as the Cyprus Issue.

Ms. Afentouli, tell us a few words on the research you did before you wrote the book.

I have been researching the British Press at the British Library Newspapers at Colindale in London, where there is a rich collection of both British and overseas [non-British] newspapers.

Apart from the tiring, but at the same time exciting research [process] of the archives, I have enriched my research with articles and bibliographical sources, personal interviews with important persons related to this subject, by participating to political meetings at the British Parliament and [especially] at the House of Lords in London and  at speeches [organized by] bodies [.] I [also] collected photographic material during my visit in Cyprus. I studied the Annan Plan for Cyprus and I have attended radio programmes of the London Greek Radio (L.G.R.), the B.B.C. – Greek Service in London, NET [broadcaster in Greece] and RIK [broadcaster in Cyprus] television programmes, as well as television documentaries of independent productions.

How come you chose this specific subject of research?

My initial thought was to research the position of the British Press and particularly The Times and The Manchester Guardian newspapers (nowadays [known as] Guardian) on the Septemvriana [the expulsion of Greeks of Constantinople and Smyrna in 1955]. However, the reports on this issue were limited, they were almost non-existent, to be a main research question on my Ph.D. thesis. To the contrary, the Cyprus Issue was often the lead story on the British Press on a daily basis. That outcome attracted my attention; therefore I began to research reportings related to Cyprus, Greece, Turkey, and Great Britain, generally.

I focused myself on the decade between 1955-1965, which was a period of great importance, as it determined the progress of the Greek-Turkish relations. As it was found out, the issues that were being reported on the British Press were the actions of the National Organization of Greek Cypriot Fighters, the Septemvriana [the expulsion of Greeks of Constantinople in 1955], the elections in Greece, the negotiations which led to constitution of the Republic of Cyprus and the turmoil of the Cyprus Issue.

Why did you focus your research on The Times and The Guardian newspapers?

The choice of The Times and The Guardian newspapers was made under the journalistic “theory” that the truth reveals when two or more contradicting opinions are being checked. However, whereas the conservative Times and the liberal Guadian have contrary political perceptions, when it comes on foreign policy issues they both appear [to follow] almost the same “line”.

How difficult was the writing of this book?

I tried to be as much objective as I can, while writing [this book], as it is extremely hard to be detached, when talking about a complex political issue, such as the Cyprus Problem.

A historian’s eye has to be spherical, but at the same time human, because the interest might be precisely found on the human side of things. I want to believe that the [investigated] material has been used with the best possible objectivity, so as to be useful to any researcher or interested.