By ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ (GREEK) TÜRKÇE (TURKISH)
I will be 57 years old in September…
I was born in 1967 in Kazivera…
Later the name of the village became Gaziveren…
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Uh-oh!
Wrong information!
I was born in Pendagiea!
It was later renamed Yeşilyurt!
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The hospital where I was born was put into service in the late 1920s by the American company that started to steal the mines in the area!
After 1974, we named it after one of the martyrs of 1964, Cengiz Topel!
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Pendagiea was a rich Greek Cypriot village!
Where did this wealth come from?
Citrus!
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We buried the citrus!
After 1974!
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And what about Kazivera?
Kazivera is a village whose history dates back to the first arrival of the Ottomans!
It is the first Turkish Cypriot village on the Lefke [Lefka] – Morphou road, on the way from Lefke to Morphou!
Naturally, when my parents were teachers in Kazivera, I said “hello” to the world in the nearest hospital!
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No, I actually said “merhaba“!
But my two grandfathers didn’t know what “merhaba” meant when I was born!
They both greeted me with “Geiá sou”, meaning “yassu”…
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There are three villages that I remember most from the time before 1974!
Sorry, two villages and a “township“…
Call Lefke a village and you will get in trouble, but after 1974, the whole of Lefke has become a village!
If there was no university, I think it could even become a “hamlet”; no need for confusion over geographical or administrative terminology though!
Lefke and my father’s village Limnitis and my mother’s village Tera [Terra]!
Limnitis, or Limnidi was also renamed; it became Yeşilırmak!
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By the way, my father’s mother’s grandmother’s name was Florenza, or Lorenza!
In the past, I witnessed a small, unnecessary and zivania-induced argument about this in the family!
I named my daughter Florenza; my father’s uncle’s son’s grandchild’s name is Lorenza!
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Ah, it is also said that my father’s father’s grandmother’s name was Shomu!
Is there such a name as Shomu?
It’s a Greek name!
From the Muskos family, from Loutros!
It could also be called Mouskos!
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Let’s bring the fascists to their feet; a member of this family, the grandson of Shomu’s brother, was Charalambos Muskos, who died in a clash with the British, or in an ambush on a British officer!
Another Greek Cypriot who was seriously wounded in an ambush near the village of Mersinaki was the famous Markos Drakos from Lefke!
Did any Greek Cypriots live in Lefke?
Of course! We drove them out with machetes, penknives and loaded guns!
We did the same to Armenians too!
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When I was living in London, I met uncle Agop from Lefke!
In fact, when I applied for a Republic of Cyprus Passport, the Consul General of the Republic of Cyprus High Commission in London was also a Greek Cypriot from Lefke!
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Whatever!
I am not sure if you know, but there was also an Archbishop from the Muskos family!
Makarios!
My grandfather’s grandmother Shomu was his grandfather’s sister!
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Oh, who did Shomu marry?
Shomu was kidnapped by my great-grandfather from Engomi, my grandfather’s grandfather, when she was 14, or 15 years old!
Shomu is from the village of Loutros!
My grandfather’s grandfather, Hasan İncirli, on the other hand, was a merchant’s son from Engomi!
The Turkish name of Engomi is İncirli!
I don’t know if my grandparents gave this name to that village, or if my grandparents took it from that village, but today’s Engomi, as you know, is what we call Metehan, or Kermia; the area we refer to as, “pass through the checkpoint and you will find yourself there”!
It is also worth mentioning that almost all of that land belonged to my grandparents at the time!
Shall we make a request to get them back?
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Anyway, Hasan İncirli kidnapped Shomu and brought her to the nearby village of Xerovounos, which had not yet been Orthodoxized!
Educated, merchant’s son, wealthy…
He was made mukhtar of the village…
Meanwhile, the name of the village was changed to Kurutepe!
Three kids from grandpa Hasan, and six kids from her second husband; try to make a count of Shomu’s grandchildren if you can…
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And Tera…
My mother’s village…
My grandfather Hüseyin Teralı…
My grandmother was Raziye, one of the local midwives…
The midwife of former AKEL deputy Takis Hadjigeorgiou…
The man even bothered to write a book about my grandmother…
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One of the thousands of Greek Cypriots from the Paphos region, especially from the village of Tala, that my grandmother delivered was the former Archbishop Chrysostomos!
He himself told this to my late uncle – a former teacher with a TMT background – Erol Teralı!
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My grandfather?
My mom’s father was a miner…
He was a manual labourer!
He was known to be fond of gambling and women…
One thing everyone agrees on, he was very handsome…
But above all, he was a folk poet…
He was considered very good at Greek Cypriot poetic duelling, or tsiattisto…
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After 1974, he settled in Kozanköy [Larnakas tis Lapithou]…
Kozanköy, Larnakas tis Lapithou…
A Maronite village.
Its inhabitants later became Muslims…
Subsequently, in the 1920s, they became Greek Orthodox…
In 1974, they were “sent away”, come on, migrate to the South!
And the Terans were brought here from the South!
Including my grandfather, of course!
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My grandfather’s only wish was to return to Tera one day, drink zivania in the wind blowing from Chrysochou, hit flies with a towel, die in his village, and be buried next to my grandmother Raziye!
My grandfather is buried in Nicosia!
Not next to my grandmother’s grave in Tera, the cemetery is missing!
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Why am I telling you all this?
I read a news report in yesterday’s newspapers…
I laughed out loud…
The Commander of the Security Forces made a speech during the swearing-in ceremony of our soldiers and said, “… the Turkish nation will never bow down to its enemies”…
Yes, I laughed!
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Why did I laugh?
Because if they hadn’t made us enemies and if they didn’t have the ambition to take advantage of that enmity today, yes, we could live on this island for 10 thousand years, maybe even much longer, without getting hung up on dates like 1571, 1878, 1955, 1958!
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For example, I mentioned that my ancestry goes back to the Limnitis region!
Petra tou Limnitis and its surroundings are considered to be one of the places in Cyprus where the first people settled!
So, I don’t necessarily have to be someone from Karaman who arrived in 1571!
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I’m very sorry sir, you didn’t even give me an old parka of yours, I’m sorry I asked for it so badly, but I don’t think it’s a very smart thing to say, out of the blue, “The Turkish nation will not bow down to its enemies.” I wish you had done what you always do: Make a pass to the crocodile trainer [Editor’s note: reference to Ersin Tatar]. He’s a goal scorer anyway, he would have hit the ball with his head and scored the goal!
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In short, my answer to this well-known “mindset” is, “… Until my last breath: Hail to peace, hail to Cyprus, hail to the brotherhood of Cypriots!”
[Photo insert: article ends with photo of author standing before Petra tou Limniti wearing a T-shirt saying: “TAKE FUN SERIOUSLY”. The photo caption says: “Welcome to those who arrived with joy in 1571 or 1974; but I have been here for the past 10 thousand years…”]
Source: UNTIL MY LAST BREATH: HAIL TO THE BROTHERHOOD OF CYPRIOTS
