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Bulli
brothers
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Almost a
hundred years after his death, there are Cypriots who can still
remember snatches of a song about him. His name was Hasan Bulli,
and he is a legend now in Cyprus, a Turkish Cypriot
"anti-hero" from Paphos whose exploits as an outlaw
captured the imagination and often the sympathy of even
law-abiding people throughout the island.
He was as
famous in Cyprus as the outlaws of the old Wild West whose era
overlapped his own -Jesse James, Billy the Kid- and he was nine
years old when Turkey handed over the island of Cyprus to
Britain. He was 31 when he died at the turn of the century and
his life and death have been im- mortalised in folk songs sung
and tales told at village fairs down through the decades that
followed.
In the minds of
many, Hasan Bulli (or Poulis as he was known to the Greek
Cypriots) whose nickname bulli (or pouli in Greek) means
"bird", was not a real criminal. Given the degree of
treachery that the quiet coffee-house keeper often confronted,
especially a betrayal by his closest friend, his actions might
even be justified, they felt.
Like in the
Wild West, his epoch was filled with revenge killings, sheep and
cattle rustlings, and "stage coach" raids against
passing travellers. Women were either "good" or
"bad" in those days, but there seemed to be more good
ones than bad ones, and even outlaws had their romances.
Hasan Bulli was
no exception, and he was to fall passionately in love with a
young Turkish Cypriot girl Emete who was from the same village,
Mamonia, in the Paphos district hills. She also happened to be
his uncle's wife and Hasan loved her all of his short life.
When Hasan was
20, he was "nice looking, about 5'10" with a slim,
strong figure and quiet disposition," according to a former
Paphos police comman- dant, M. Ch. Kareklas, MBE, who wrote a
book about Hasan Bulli and his era.
One of his
friends was a known outlaw called Hayreddin, also a Turkish
Cypriot and owner of a large flock of goats which he kept near
the village. According to the author, Hayreddin made an indecent
proposal to Emete and justice was swift. An enraged Hasan vowed
revenge and on three occasions shot at Hayreddin from ambush but
in each case missed.
Fearing for his
life, Hayreddin found witnesses to "frame" Hasan, who
he accused of raiding Hayreddin's goat herd with the help of his
uncle. The result was a seven-year prison sentence, although
Hasan claimed that he was asleep in the village when the theft
occured.
Promptly
escaing from the police custody, Hasan headed for the Paphos
hills where he spent one and a half years as a fugitive, either
camped out in the mountains or in the safe houses. He
"never annoyed anybody there, was very honest and protected
women," the author relates. When meeting them, he seemed
only interested in the latest news and police movements in the
area.
Hasan told an
ever growing group of supporters that his sole object was to
hunt down Hayreddin, who in the meantime had fled to Ktima town,
the district capital, for safety. But Hayreddin was uneasy
there, especially after hearing that Hasan had "taken
revenge" against three villagers who had stolen his
father's cattle. Fearing that his turn had come, Hayreddin
bribed Hasan's best friend Abdullah [of Yerovasa], to invite the
outlaw to his "safe" house for dinner and a rest, then
to kill him.
Alert to the
plot, Hasan's mother warned her son of the plan, but Hasan went
anyway. He kept a loaded gun on his knee throughout dinner, then
es- caped before dawn through a window after bolting the bedroom
door. Along with Hayreddin, Abdullah was now on Hasan's target
list.
Shortly after
wards, the outlaw again narrowly missed death after ambush while
visiting Emete. She had moved to a nearby village Stavrokonnou,
which was friendly to Hasan and their meetings could be better
facilitated there. Accompanied by a supporter, Hasan approached
Emete as she washed clothes at a spring near the village. When
police opened fire they hit the wrong man, however, and Hasan
Bulli escaped once again.
While assuring
villagers in the district that "no honest person" need
fear him, Hasan mounted a series of revenge attacks against his
enemies, mur- dering informers as police pursued him through the
Paphos hills. His aim had apparently improved considerably since
his three previous abortive attempts against old enemy Hayreddin,
for his targets "never left the safety of their home
villages when news reached them of the outlaw's wrath."
In the
meantime, Hasan steadily depleted their sheep and goat herds
during nightime raids. "Six weeks before his arrest, Hasan
fell ill with malaria and stayed in an abandoned house at
Mamonia village to recuperate. Although nobody had informed
against him, or for reasons which are still unknown, the outlaw
gave himself up to the police without a fight. Perhaps he was
too weakened by malaria to run anymore, perhaps he saw no
further point in outlawry.
Hasan Bulli was
convicted of murder and gaoled in the Nicosia Central Prison
where he was well-liked by other prisoners, learned to read and
write, said his prayers five times a day and was so cooperative
that prison warders per- mitted him to work alongside other
trustees in the grounds just outside the prison gates.
A few years
later, word reached him of the arrest of two brothers, Mehmet
Kaymakam and Hasan Kavuni, also outlaws who were known as
"Hasan Bullis" (or Hasan birds). They had been
betrayed by certain villagers from Kydassi and Hasan made plans
to escape from the prison and burn down the village. His chance
came while working outside the prison's East gate. His attempt
ended abruptly, however, when an alert prison warder "cut
him across the neck with a sword after he refused to stop when
called upon."
Together with
another escaping prisoner, Hasan Bulli was shot dead. But he
still lives in the hills of Paphos, his exploit immortalised
through folk tales, songs and chant, 95 years after his death.
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