Sevgul Uludag
caramel_cy@yahoo.com
Tel: 99 966518
One day, I receive a message from one of my Facebook friends… He writes:
"Sevgul, I have an interesting story...
A particular story, of the kind that turn into fable, has reached me from an online Turkish Cypriot friend. My direct relationship and interest in this story lie in the fact that the protagonist of this story comes from my native village, Synchari, located at the foot of Pentadactylos, just below the painted flag.
The story narrated to me by my Turkish Cypriot friend was passed on to him by his grandmother, Siddika Osman, born in 1924 at Hamit Mandrez.
Siddika's father was Osman Haci Mustafa. His father was Mustafa and father of Mustafa was Halim Musi. My estimation is that Halim Musi may have been born circa 1840 - 1850.
Halim Musi who lived in Hamit Mandrez, fell in love with the Greek Cypriot daughter of the priest of my village, Synchari. The villages were not very far apart and there was a road connecting both to Nicosia which ran through Hamit Mandrez. It was therefore natural and common that the residents of Synchari met with the residents of the Hamit Mandrez. Halim's love must have been great because one night he secretly went to Synchari and stole his beloved from her father, the village priest, and brought her back to his village, Hamit Mandrez.
Out of the bonding of Halim Musi and the priest's daughter, a son was born out of wedlock: Mustafa. The couple never married because the priest's daughter did not want to change her faith. At some point, she made the big decision to return to her village and secretly left Hamit Mandrez carrying her little son Mustafa, and found shelter at her father's house in Synchari. Halim tried to dissuade her, but she was adamant. One evening, Halim went to Synchari and secretly carried his little son Mustafa back to Hamit Mandrez. The daughter of the priest, Mustafa's mother, could not bear the separation from her son and died shortly afterwards.
Tradition has it that in the evenings when the northern wind was blowing one could hear the mourning of Mustafa's mother's descending from Synchari to Hamit Mandrez....
If there is someone who has heard this story or a story similar to that and has some more information to share please contact me. I would be delighted to know who this beautiful daughter of the Priest was, who the priest was and to complete the puzzle of a true story that touches upon legend."
I thank this friend for sharing this story and start investigating… I speak with various friends from Kaymakli-Hamit Mandrez area and find out that the story is true… In fact, one of them tells me that when the checkpoints opened in 2003, some members of the priest's family from Synchari in fact went to Hamit Mandrez, trying to find their relatives… He does not know if they managed to find anyone there since this is such an old story and people have been dispersed all over the place, it would be difficult or a big coincidence to find the family on a short visit, I gather…
I speak to the grandson of Mrs. Siddika Osman and he tells me that the story is true, as he heard it from his grandmother… He says that he told his Facebook friend from Synchari that the great grandmother of his grandmother was from Synchari… He says that his grandmother Siddika was the daughter of Osman, the son of Mustafa… Osman had got married to Ayshe from Kaymakli and when Siddika was two years old, she had passed away and that Siddika too had a tragic life…
Osman Hacı Mustafa would emigrate to Antalya in 1937 with four of his kids – he had seven kids… And he would eventually settle in Adana…
Siddika, when she left Cyprus with her father, was only 12 years old but she would remember every detail about her family and would relate stories about them to her grandson…
I would speak with others as well to find out the story of Mustafa…
Mustafa would marry Nimeti and would stay in Hamit Mandrez… He would have six kids…
The Musi family was a very big family and I find other readers to tell me about them… But I cannot find the "connection" between those living or who passed away and Mustafa… Though the Musi family is from Hamit Mandrez, traditionally, Hamit Mandrez people would take brides from Kaymakli… And some would marry in other villages…
One of them, Ibrahim Musi was the grandfather of Mehmedali Tremesheli… Tremesheli was one of the powerful members of the underground organisation TMT. He passed away but I call his sister and she tells me that Ibrahim Musi had a brother, Musa and Shefika and Alpay Durduran are related to him… I speak with Shefika and Alpay Durduran but they don't remember much since this is such an old story…
We do not know if Mustafa had any relationship with Ibrahim and Musa Musi…
What we know for sure is such stories are still a "taboo" in Cyprus – when you speak with people, they would tell you similar stories but refrain from being named or have any connection with such stories… Nationalism has stopped people from having freedom of expression and they cannot say what they know, openly… Nationalism has forced Cypriots to "choose their own side", this is such a big pressure that you would be outcast even within your own family if you dare to contradict this stance… Nationalism on both sides, feeding each other and getting fatter and fatter by each day, has nourished certain types of "national identities" and anyone who does not "fit" in these "boxes" would have to pay a dear price by being stigmatized by society and not being "accepted" as one from that community… Even the thought of such a prospect would create fear and worries, therefore stopping people from telling such stories…
But stories do get told orally and some, like the grandson of Mrs. Siddika told me that, yes, I can publish his family's story… I am grateful for that. Perhaps living abroad gives a certain kind of freedom to be able to speak of these…
And the youth nowadays are changing and not giving a damn about such things…
One recent example is our friend Orestis Agisilaou who got engaged with Latife Sakiner – A Greek Cypriot and a Turkish Cypriot getting engaged and sharing this all over the social media… Mixed couples of Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots are multiplying which shows that the youth has a more open mind, not giving a damn to the "nationalisms" and the "taboos" that nationalisms have created on this land…
Recently one of the Turkish Cypriot youth leaders, Burak Berk Doluay got married with Greek Cypriot Chrissie and we attended the wedding reception… It was a unique experience, a bicommunal traditional group singing songs in Turkish and Greek, people dancing to the same tune and Burak and Chrissie smiling and shining among the multicultural crowd who came to share their happiness…
May our island be able to bring down "taboos" created by nationalisms of the two sides and may people do what they like, without fearing stigmatisation and harassment…
May we be able to lead normal lives without being pushed to "confront" each other across the barricades in our brains, may we be able to relax and be able to speak, without worries about this or that…
And if any of you, my dear readers, know anything about the tragic love story from Synchari and Hamit Mandrez, please drop me a line or give me a call on my CYTA mobile at 99 966518. Thank you…
9.11.2019
(*) Article published in the POLITIS newspaper on the 8th of December 2019, Sunday. Similar article in Turkish was published in the YENİDÜZEN newspaper on my pages entitled "Cyprus: The Untold Stories" on the 12th and 13th of November 2019 and here are the links:
http://www.yeniduzen.com/hamit-mandrez-sihari-arasinda-gecen-huzunlu-bir-ask-hikayesi-1-14763yy.htm
http://www.yeniduzen.com/hamit-mandrez-sihari-arasinda-gecen-huzunlu-bir-ask-hikayesi-2-14769yy.htm
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