North Cyprus TV, radio, newspapers and media: an expat guide

Quick start: TV, radio, news and international media

Almost every outlet in our sources is Turkish-language. The Public Information Office (PIO) of the TRNC Ministry of Foreign Affairs publishes a television list with 10 name headings and a radio list with 21, and those two pages are the starting point of this guide. A PIO heading is evidence that an outlet is listed, not that it is on air today, and it says nothing we rely on about frequencies, streams, satellite use or licensing.

In practice, for television start with the BRTK live page, the official viewing page of the public broadcaster, or the live pages of the private channels that have one. For radio, the stations whose own site has a listening control are the easiest to try. For news, see the Turkish-language papers below. Few English-language outlets were confirmed in our check, and Republic of Cyprus media are a different jurisdiction, described in their own section. Online viewing and listening need a working connection; see the utilities guide for internet, and practical information for everyday set-up.

A note on names. This page uses North Cyprus and Northern Cyprus as plain geographical names and TRNC (KKTC in Turkish) for the name used by the Public Information Office and by the outlets themselves. Turkish Cypriot media means outlets that the PIO lists or that serve the Turkish Cypriot community in the north. Other governments and international bodies use other terminology, and so does the Republic of Cyprus. Using a term here is not a position on any dispute. For the people behind the media, see the Turkish Cypriot culture and traditions page.

Turkish Cypriot television channels

The PIO television page groups its list under three headings: official channels, private channels and university channels (in Turkish, Resmi Kanallar, Özel Kanallar and Üniversite Kanalları). It has 10 name headings. BRT1, BRT2 and BRT3 appear as a single heading, so the list counts as 12 channels if they are counted separately. The cards show the PIO name exactly as listed.

Where a card says the own site opened, the outlet's website loaded on 31 October 2026 and named the outlet. That shows the outlet exists online; it does not show that it is broadcasting now, and it is not a licence check. Where a card says the own site is not confirmed, the PIO listing is the only evidence we have, and the link goes to the PIO page. Four of the 10 headings fall in that group.

For viewing, the official pages we could verify are the BRTK live page, the Genç TV live-broadcast page, and the Kanal T site, which offers a live broadcast. Kıbrıs TV has an embedded player on its site, and the TV 2020 link sits on the Diyalog newspaper site. The pages do not tell us whether viewing works outside North Cyprus, so test the page itself. We do not reproduce logos or embed any stream.

FM and online radio

The PIO radio page lists 21 headings, and some headings bundle several services under one name. The same page prints an FM frequency and contact details for each station. That table is undated (the page footer says 2024), so we do not reproduce it: a transmitter frequency listed on a directory does not mean a station can be received in any given town, and we found no dated technical source to rely on.

Ten of the 21 headings have an own site that opened and names the station; the other 11 are listed by the PIO and own site not confirmed from our check. Several of the working sites offer a listening control: Kıbrıs FM, Radyo Vatan, Radyo ODTÜ, SİM FM and the Bayrak services on the BRTK live page. A site that did not open in our check may still work for others, because our tools reach the web through a proxy.

For newcomers, online listening is the simplest way to sample local radio before deciding which station to follow. See the utilities guide for connectivity.

Newspapers, magazines and independent digital publications

We could open and confirm six Turkish-language newspaper and news-portal sites, listed below. We did not confirm any magazine. The word independent is used only for the kind of list: we have not assessed any outlet's ownership, editorial line, accuracy or independence, and a listing is not a recommendation.

These are websites that loaded on 31 October 2026. We did not check print editions, distribution or whether a paper is published daily. Some candidates were left out because we could not confirm them: see the notes at the end of this page.

A practical point for newcomers: official announcements and local news are overwhelmingly published in Turkish, so a browser translation tool or a Turkish-speaking contact is useful, and anything that affects property, residence or permits should be read in the issuing body's own text. See government offices for expats and arriving in North Cyprus.

English and other-language news for expats

Few English-language outlets were confirmed in our check. The only English-language North Cyprus outlet we could confirm is Cyprus Today, whose own site lists weekly PDF issues. Kıbrıs Postası and Yenidüzen are Turkish-language; on the paths we tried we found no English edition for either.

English also appears on the university side: the Eastern Mediterranean University channel and radio are listed with Turkish and English, and Bayrak International is described as the multilingual service of the public broadcaster, although its specific languages were not verified. We found nothing verified in Russian, German or other languages, so we list none.

For daily life, the practical route is often a mix: an English-language paper where one exists, the BRTK pages, and a translation tool for Turkish sources. For schooling and language learning, see the schools and admissions guide.

Republic of Cyprus media, different jurisdiction

Cyprus Mail and RIK belong to the Republic of Cyprus, which is a different jurisdiction from the TRNC. We list them separately so that readers do not take them for North Cyprus outlets. Cyprus Mail describes itself on its own site as bringing "Breaking Cyprus news, live updates and trusted reporting since 1945", and covers the whole island from its Nicosia base. RIK is the Republic's public broadcaster and its site is in Greek.

Reading both sides is useful when a story concerns the island as a whole: each side's outlets report from their own position. This page does not describe the Republic of Cyprus's media regulation. Its Radiotelevision Authority appeared in search results, but we could not open its site, so nothing is said about it.

DVB-T/T2, DVB-S/S2, IPTV and OTT: what the terms mean

These are generic definitions, not a description of North Cyprus services. DVB-T and DVB-T2 are digital terrestrial television standards, broadcast from ground transmitters. DVB-S and DVB-S2 are satellite standards, received with a dish. IPTV is television delivered over an IP-based network, usually by an operator. OTT, over-the-top, generally means video delivered through an app or website over an ordinary internet connection.

Standards are not a claim of local service availability. This page does not say which standard any North Cyprus outlet uses, which service is on air, or what a particular household can receive. For that, ask the broadcaster or platform directly.

Satellite dish and receiver setup: practical cautions

This page gives no satellite names, orbital positions, transponder, symbol-rate or other receiver settings. We found no dated primary technical source for North Cyprus, and one outlet's site that publishes its own platform details gives them undated and self-published, so we do not copy them. Settings that change are easy to get wrong and hard to check from a web page.

Practical caution only. Before buying equipment, ask the broadcaster or platform which service it currently uses and which receiver it needs, and have a licensed installer fit and align any dish. If you rent, ask your landlord or building management before fixing anything to a wall or roof. We found no source on permits or licences for dishes, so this page makes no legal claim about them; for property matters NORTHEA coordinates independent legal review. See the utilities guide and home improvement and DIY.

Media by city: Nicosia, Kyrenia, Famagusta, İskele, Güzelyurt and Lefke

The listings in our sources are not tied to towns. The PIO television and radio pages give names, and our checks of the outlets' own sites did not establish where each one is based, so we do not assign any outlet to a town. Doing so from names alone would be guesswork.

For what each place offers, use the place pages: Lefkoşa (Nicosia), Girne (Kyrenia), Gazimağusa (Famagusta), İskele and Karpaz, and Güzelyurt and Lefke.

How to verify breaking news and official notices

A general method works anywhere. Check the date and time on the item. Look for the original notice from the body that issued it, rather than a screenshot or a repost. Compare at least two independent outlets. Separate a report from an opinion piece or an advertisement. Look for later corrections before you act. For anything that affects property, residence or permits, read the issuing body's own text and take independent professional advice; NORTHEA does not issue legal opinions.

Keep the two contexts apart. For TRNC matters, the TRNC outlets listed above and the Public Information Office pages report from the TRNC's position. For Republic of Cyprus matters, Republic of Cyprus outlets such as Cyprus Mail and RIK report from theirs. When a story concerns both, read both, and note whose position each source states. This page makes no legal claim about either side.

On regulation: no TRNC broadcasting-authority page could be reached in our check. Searches returned only material from Türkiye's broadcasting regulator, which is a different jurisdiction, and several .gov.ct.tr hosts did not open. We therefore do not describe how TRNC broadcasting is regulated or licensed. The Republic of Cyprus has its own authority, which we could not open either.

Sources, editorial method, last verified and corrections

Starting points were the two PIO pages: the television list at pio.mfa.gov.ct.tr/tv-kanallari and the radio list at pio.mfa.gov.ct.tr/en/radio-channels. For each heading we then looked for an own site and opened it. A card says the own site opened only when the page loaded and named the outlet. Everything else is marked as listed, with the PIO page as the link.

All pages were opened on 31 October 2026, through a proxy, without bypassing any certificate error or bot challenge. Not used: FM frequencies, satellite and transponder data, stream addresses, contact details and logos. Last verified: 31 October 2026. Broadcasting details change quickly, so we plan to recheck this page each quarter.

Publisher lists are independently compiled, not endorsements, and no outlet has reviewed this page. To report an error or a changed outlet, write to NORTHEA via the contact page.