During ESPN’s coverage of the Australian Open match Jan. 17 between Marcos Baghdatis of the Republic of Cyprus and Marat Safin of Russia, an ESPN map of Cyprus and analyst Cliff Drysdale’s characterizations of it left open the possibility for misinterpretation by not specifying the island’s political situation.
According to Kostas A. Lavdas, professor of Hellenic Studies at Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in Boston, a crisis on the island in 1974 led to a division that, nine years later, resulted in Turkish leaders declaring independence for the northern part of the island. Only Turkey recognized this entity, however. The only internationally accepted state was and remains the Republic of Cyprus (which is based on the Greek Cypriot population). The enmity between the Greek and Turkish communities on the island has created a social barrier.
It was not the intent of ESPN or any of its analysts to discuss the territorial declarations of the island’s inhabitants. Rather, the intent was to offer some background on Baghdatis and where he lived. The comments by Drysdale, who referred to Baghdatis as hailing from the “Greek part of Cyprus,” could be interpreted as political but were meant as communal. Link
