Sevgul Uludag
caramel_cy@yahoo.com
Tel: 99 966518
Gius Bayada passed away, leaving behind heart-broken Cypriots from all ethnicities, his life-long friends, his wife Cleopatra, his children and grandchildren – he was the most important peacebuilder I have ever met in Cyprus – always with integrity, sensitivity and living years ahead of his own communities…
I had met Bayada maybe 30 or more years ago and had become very quickly good friends… Bayada's wife, Cleopatra was the close friend of Neriman Cahit, one of my good friends and Neriman had written a poem addressing Cleopatra… This would become a very famous poem, touching the hearts of everyone…
`We are too, too late Cleopatra
Bring condiment to the bread of my Mesaoria,
Cleopatra.
bring wine from the vineyards of Limassol,
Let us drink in the name of
friendship and peace...
Bring me a handful of soil
from the south Cleopatra
Let us plant the flowers of peace together
to our flowerpots, empty for years...
Too, too late we are Cleopatra
look... look at our sons
they are holding guns again
listen... listen to my cry Cleopatra, our sons are killed
one from your side, one from my side
one from my side, one from your side
...and then years are followed by years
killings and killings
Let us think for once
who is the real loser?
instead of politicians
let us we, speak as mothers now Cleopatra...
Come, come Cleopatra,
together, let us plant almond trees on the Green Line,
and graft the peace to their branches
that will blossom every spring
let us blow winds of friendship together
that our children can fly their kites.
We have a song
I wonder if you know it
"Besparmak mountain........."
let us sing, sing it together Cleopatra
with bouzouki and saz
Until now,
mothers have always lost
let us make sure Cleopatra
THAT OUR CHILDREN WIN FOR ONCE…`
Neriman and Cleopatra would become a symbol of peace during the years when `crossings` would not be possible or would be very rare…
I would go and meet Cleopatra and Gius Bayada in their home, an idyllic place full of paintings and books…
I would play with Noma, their Dalmatian dog and we would sit in the study of Bayada and he would tell me the story of his life…
He was born in Famagusta – he was of Latin descent, his ancestors came from Malta but he would never consider himself as `Latin`.
He was the staunch supporter of Cypriotness, not in an all inclusive Greek Cypriotness but a Cypriotness that would embrace all, primarily the Turkish Cypriots, as well as Maronite Cypriots, Armenian Cypriots and Latin Cypriots…
He would raise the flag of Cyprus when it had been a sort of a `sin` right after 1974 and he would struggle, with his friends to raise the flag of Cyprus in government offices – at that time, there was only the Greek flag in government offices. He and his friends had formed the New Cyprus Association and they would try to help Turkish Cypriots enclaved in Paphos and Limassol at the time right after the war, bringing them newspapers, finding them doctors to be treated for the sick, helping in communication with their families…
He would come under fire for his activities and would have endless court cases… They would attack him in right-wing newspapers… But he would survive with a smile – the slow smile we know so well…
He loved flowers and would be happy when his flowers bloomed on the terrace of his penthouse. But he also had a dream house at Agia Napa that took years of planning and building. This would be an open house to all his friends where he would every year hold a gathering of the New Cyprus Association and we would eat and drink and also honour someone or some group for their action for peace… The dream house in Agia Napa had been built with stones he and Cleopatra had collected and it would be one of the most beautiful houses I ever saw in Cyprus… No, not posh but natural, beautiful with its crazy colours, big garden and ponds… And Noma would run up and down among the tables to grab some food… Cleopatra would be busy in the kitchen, coordinating like a chef of the orchestra while Gius would be around trying to make his friends comfortable…
Perhaps he and his group has been the only group in the southern part of our island when they would ask our opinion about this or that issue before they made any statement or formed any policy… I remember George Vasiliou had been like that as well – it is a gift and it shows respect and it's not something on the surface, it is deep… While making any activity or any statement, Bayada and the New Cyprus Association would take into consideration the needs and concerns of all communities of the island – not just Greek Cypriots. That is something we need to learn in both sides of this divided island – Bayada and his group would set the role model for the future about how we should act towards each other and how we should consider the needs and concerns of not only our own communities but all the other communities sharing this island with us…
His house would be like a sanctuary for me especially right after the checkpoints would open in 2003… We would sit and talk and he would help me to connect with people for interviews or for publishing my articles… He would help not only me but many others to make connections and to grow by learning new things, by searching for the truth…
He would also help with my investigations concerning the `missing persons`, calling me one day about a friend of his in Paphos who had found out the burial site of a `missing` Turkish Cypriot from 1967. We would meet in the office of Xenophon Kallis, the Assistant to the Cyprus Missing Persons' Committee and later on would go to Paphos together… We would show the possible burial site to Kallis and his Turkish Cypriot counterparts in the Cyprus Missing Persons' Committee… Later on they would dig there and would find the remains of Fuat Mulla Salih – a welder – demirci – and these remains after identification would be returned to his family for burial… I would attend the funeral in Nicosia…
Bayada would help me to get to know Dionysis Malas whom I would interview at length – he would shed light for the first time on the massacres of Maratha-Sandallaris-Aloa, about what actually happened in those three villages to women and children, how he too was targeted by EOKA-B because he was going up against what they were doing in those villages…
Bayada would also try to convince another Greek Cypriot, a top level official of 1963 to talk about the killings of some Turkish Cypriots in Lythrodontas. But his friend would refuse to speak to me and we would speak through Bayada…
When I would be organizing together with my friends an exhibition of art from women painters and artists from all communities of Cyprus – Turkish Cypriot, Greek Cypriot, Maronite Cypriot, Latin Cypriot and Armenian Cypriot – Bayada would help me to connect with his cousin Janine Bayada and she would participate in our Multicultural Women's Art Exhibition in Ledra Street… There, for the first time, as had been my dream, we would exhibit works of art from women from all communities in Cyprus… Soon the idea would `catch up` and someone, taking `inspiration` from our work as Multicultural Women's Centre would form an association or a foundation and would try to bring together artists from all communities…
Bayada would help to make history in Cyprus – not a history of blood and death but a history of peace and communication and an alternative to our bloody history, of living together and working together and thinking together. He would be the most important role model for the future…
He would participate in all activities with a bi-communal or multi-cultural nature… In his personal life, he would have close friends from all communities… He would be the pioneer of how Cypriots should live and think and dream…
I would not go to the ceremony organized for him because I would be sick with a lot of pain on my back – but more than that, I would not go because I would not want to remember him as someone who has passed away… It's as though I would pick up the phone and dial his number and Cleopatra would answer and then call him to the phone. And we would continue to speak…
I would prefer to remember him as he had been – the actual saying goodbye to him in front of his coffin would be far too painful for me… I would pretend that he is still there, in his house, in his study, reading or listening to music, playing with Noma, making jokes, smiling his slow smile and ready to answer my call…
No, I will not say goodbye to him…
He will be with us forever…
He has been too precious for all Cypriots… He will live in our memories and continue to show us the way we have to take…
So no goodbye, just `so long` Bayada…
20.2.2016
Photo: Gius Bayada...
(*) Article published in POLITIS newspaper on the 28th of February 2016, Sunday.
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