Kemal's Story


Q. Would you please tell me your pleasant experience that happened before 1974.
Of course, with pleasure. Well, we had lots of Greek friends, like other nations, and they were good Greek friends as well. We had very nice neighbourhood relations, we use to include them in our wedding ceremonies. These ceremonies used to start on Friday and continue three days long until Monday. Eat, drink and enjoy ourselves all these three days long. In fact, we used to go to their weddings, as they came to ours. In every wedding we used to have the best friends who helped emotionally and financially with the wedding sponsors. In Greek, they used to call this "gumbaro," or "sagdic" in Turkish. So we used to help each other in this manner.

They used to cook special rice and cook meat on charcoal or in conventional owns for everybody. They had a special ceremony in the evening. They stained the bride's hand and all together we went around the village with the assistance of drums and flute. In short, we didn't have any trouble among us.

As you know, Limassol was a city that was world famous for its annual wine festival, which was organized by the local spirit companies ETKO and KEO. These celebrations used to be held in a zoo area and they continued for fifteen days. The manufacturers used to bring their wine and brandy in large barrels. So the entrance fee was one Cyprus shilling, and this fee covered a bottle of wine and a glass at the entrance. After that, all the drinks were free. Anybody could go and ask for his free bottle of drink. I liked red wine the most. I used to have a bottle of red wine and go under a tree and enjoy either grilled chicken or meat. In different corners there were different entertainments, such as dancing with folk music or dancing with popular music. And these celebrations were done with Greek and Turkish friends all together.

Q. Were you using Greek language or Turkish language among yourselves.
We used to talk in Greek to Greek people.

Q. Did they know Turkish?
Quite seldom. Very few Greeks used to know Turkish. But most of the Turks used to know Greek. Well, we had some Turkish friends that didn't know Greek either. But in general, Turks could talk in Greek.

Q. Did the Turkish companies take a part in these celebrations?
There was only one or two Turkish spirit producers such as Cakartas which used to produce some Raki and brandy, but they were not allowed by the Greeks to take a part in these celebrations as producers. So Turks used to go only for the entertainment.

Q: Do You have anything else to add?
As you know, the politicians created most of the problems every passing day, and our relations with Greeks got bad. In fact Makarios, who was the president the republic of Cyprus in 1960 admitted that this new republic was a springboard to join the island with Greece -- "ENOSIS." This was to free the island from the United Kingdom, and it would be easier to get rid of Turks. With this understanding, he accepted the laws of the republic and those happy days were left in the past.

We are happy here as well, but as we came from the South and know that the South is better, we are always going to miss our place in the South.

Well, I don't have anything else to add, and I wish you success. Thank you very much for your interview.

DEMOGRAPHICS
Occupation (or life's work): Barber, Mujahit.
Age: 53.
Sex: Male.
Nationality: TRNC.
Where now lives (country and city/town/village): Mutluyaka village near Magosa.
Where lived during the events described during the interview: Mutluyaka village in South Cyprus near Limassol.
What was the occupation (or life's work) of the main income earner in the household when growing up: His father worked in cafeteria at British base: Agroturi.

This interview was conducted by Ibrahim.
June 1996
For the previous page. "Greek Neighbors."