Orhan Seyfi Ari
This page is dedicated to a man who though not a Lurucinali spent 6 years between 1953-1959 as a teacher in Lurucina. His talents were not just in teaching but as a poet. All the poems on this page were written by Orhan Seyfi Arı (except the tributes). His photos with Lurucinalı people include the time he was in the UK. Proof that his relationship with our village folk went much deeper than just the 6 years as a teacher in Lurucina.They are rare images, probably not seen by many Lurucinalı’s. A depth of gratitude to his son Eren for contacting the creator of this site Ismail Veli in order to share the information on his family connection, and contribution to our village’s secondary school education (orta okul). Eren himself attended junior school in Lurucina during his father’s stay in our village. While his brother Erdin was actually born in Lurucina in 1955.
He seemed so fascinated by the research and contents of this site into our family and village history, that it encouraged him to add his own contribution. And for that our village must be honoured for the part Orhan Arı played in the education of our village. I’m humbly honoured to have been offered to pass on Orhan Seyfi Arı’s poems.
I feel absolutely certain that fellow villagers who had the good fortune to be tutored by this exceptional man will be delighted at the opportunity of remembering their teacher.
Clearly one does not need to have family connections in order to feel a deep feeling of love for a place that played an important part of Eren’s life. As for his father I will let his poems/Siirs and own words do the talking.
Ismail Veli ‘Kirlapo’.
ORHAN SEYFİ ARI’S OWN ACCOUNT OF HIS ASSIGNMENT TO LURUCİNA IN 1953
In his work titled “Our Unsetting Educational Suns”, Ali Nesim recounted the memories of Orhan Seyfi Arı, who worked at Akıncılar Secondary School for many years:
“In 1953, I was sent to Luricina to the secondary school that had opened the year before. I stayed there until 1959. When I first went, there were 30 students in the school. When I left, there were 60-70 students. The village headman, Ali Rauf Efendi, worked to ensure the school continued and developed. At that time, there were two thousand people in Luricina. However, they would not send their children to school. I would go door to door, field to field, and collect students. Even those who had finished primary school two or three years earlier. Since there were many poor people, they could not pay the enrollment fee. I set up a charity fund and continued the school. There were smart children. When I left, two out of three teachers were raised in the village. The children who went to primary school knew Turkish. The elderly continued to speak Greek. The time came when there was no one left who knew Greek.”
“The situation was miserable because we were always in a difficult situation due to the 1953 Paphos earthquake. I left my family under a tent and started working in Akıncılar. This was a very different place from where I was used to living. For a moment, while I was thinking about how I could live with my family in this village with no water or electricity, terrible roads, and no trees or flowers, I remembered what the ideal teacher Moreket had told me 13 years ago. Thus, I was ashamed of my rebellion not to go there and started working with great pleasure.
At that time, I saw that the village of Akıncılar, where there were very few people who could read and write, was no different from the clean Anatolian villagers. The villagers of Akıncılar had beautiful characteristics that many people in places known as civilized did not have. That is why I found the strength to work. I also experienced the sweetest moments of my profession in the village of Akıncılar. I believe that I worked hard and was useful. The fact that even 30 years after I left the village, those who were born after I left the village know me and talk about me must be a proof of this. Protecting the homeland in times of war is of course a must. However, the only weapon to protect the homeland in times of peace is reading. Thus, who knows how many more unmentioned mujahideen like Moreket are there. If the Cypriot society has reached these happy years from scratch in fifty years, it is certainly thanks to these anonymous mujahideen. May our respects be to the living and may our mercy be upon the departed.”
Hasan Yücelen’s tribute to Orhan Seyfi Arı.
Hasan Yücelen in [‘The 100 Years of Struggle for Existence of the Turks of Lourijina/Akıncılar -A Documentation of Heroism’]
The Centuries-Long Struggle for Existence of the Akincilar (Luricina) Turks – A Document of Heroism (*)
Mr. Orhan’s such services (to Lourijina)…
(inscribed) With debt of gratitude for services & in remembrance of Orhan Ari, the educational sun that has never set on Akıncılar.
Oğuz Metiner’s tribute to Orhan Seyfi Arı-in Birlik, 29 January 1993
On the teacher of teachers Arı, in his teaching, in verse ‘A Star Has Fallen’ [in Turkish]
A Star’s Passed Away
Passed away from amongst us a star-true,
In the last days of nineteen-ninety-two,
Inspiring all around his deeds of illumination,
Speedily as he moved on to his destination;
And to our senses having he brought us,
We, quietly, buried him in our hearts.
Well known and versed, none other was he
Than the pilgrim, The Teacher: Orhan Ari
His concern -so sincere!
Greatly respected everywhere!
Years spent to illuminate!
More: hearts, his sultanate!
With his pupils was spent half his lifetime at schools
And at places of worship the other with the faithfuls,
As built his honesty a throne, in every heart, that rules!
Revealed was his departure-shortly for the here-after
For, late-before, he had told his friends-closer
It was time he would meet his maker.
It did not take long.. he attained his ultimate desire;
And, having left his worldly possessions to his near and dear,
He settled on the throne of omniscience in the world after here .
Lie in radiance, in paradise you rest!
The exalted prophet himself to intercede for you -the best!
Rejoice his grand soul, with God’s best graces blest!
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In Türkiye
Nothing in the world could take the color of your eyes
Even the bees didn’t give the taste of your lips
I swear I have never seen its equal in the world.
They named it as uniquely beautiful.
Pomegranate flower
Pomegranate flower, pomegranate blossom
You shine on your tree
Like a star descending from the sky
And you smile on your branch
Like a girl who has just opened her eyes to love
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İmam
Love has pride
Sometimes a dream is shameless
Those who are caught up in these
Never gets old
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Our same sex
Neither that day rose nor this month set
Even guardian angels always fell asleep
The demons have crossed the line, they are taking over the day
The human being is groaning and everything he owns is being destroyed by the jinn.
I thought the days of love were going to be ours
Were yesterdays always a flaw?
Is making the world hell a skill?
Where are the futures we have been waiting for?
Even if our sins pass the Great Wall of China
Even if our curses do not reach you
Even if we can’t understand justice
Oh God, please, if only our fellow man wouldn’t punish us.
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Know the World
Even if you love the crazy one, his parents are not happy
Even if you love your guardian, his crazy one is not satisfied
Even if you give face to both of them, your heart is not satisfied
World, world, you have no decision world
You love the one who loves you
You crush those who don’t love you
Then you take both of them and leave
You have no wife for anyone in the world.
To those who know you well
To the one who left you
And to those who shoot at you like me
You are not harmed, world.
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FROM ENGLAND
Don’t ask my wife these days
How did I spend my time and where?
Step by step I scanned the bazaar
And I always looked for earrings and bracelets for you
In the shop windows
It was so beautiful that the jewelry
Believe me, my life’s companion
I couldn’t take it all from you
My tears wanted to flow
You’re wearing your prettiest dress
And you
I saw your jewelry adorned
I saw an angel descend from the sky
Your lips are the lips I love
And your cheeks turned red
But it didn’t last long
I shivered
Because this was a dream that appeared in your mind
Even though it is a little jewellery
You are happy
And for a moment I was happy
Don’t worry about a beautiful lie.
Okay, my beauty.
wouldn’t that be the case?
to many places
For no reason
Dream fuck
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MY DEAR MISS KADRIYE
How to choose tulips in a wheat field
Or how everyone knows the one they love from afar
That’s how I recognize you on the street
My dear Ms. Kadriye
My dear Kadriye, don’t neglect me.
I would be crushed, my dear, if I didn’t see you even for one day.
We love being affectionate
But we still have good intentions
We don’t think about femininity and masculinity when we talk.
What brings us together, what makes us talk, is a simple resemblance to fate.
I don’t know what pleasure you find in the words of a crazy person like me.
But I see the reflection of the mirror you look in every day in your eyes.
IN AUSTRALIA
Are Worlds Enough?
Even if the sun fades one day
Even if the universe always turns to ice
Your fire is enough for me
Even if nature blows one day
Even if the earth and the sky remain colorless
The color of your eyes is enough for me
If roses become flowers,
If only beautiful scents would always end
The smell of your skin is enough for me
Would spring still shine if there was no rain?
If the sun does not shine, will God’s night end?
If it weren’t for your love, would the world be enough for me to breathe?
CYPRUS
Your Dream Is Very Much To Me
Your coy smiling face
Your silky skin
It seems too much to me
Your beautiful dream
I’m leaving now
On a road of no return
You be happy, my love.
What is my thinking state?
GOSSIP
Chewing gum for adults, chewing gum for kids
A rudderless bicycle roaming around the neighborhood
Gossip!
No! Neither gum nor bread
What water… in fact, human flesh is a demon
Gossip!
Gossip, gossip
What has become of us?
Gossip!
She is a fading flower, I am a dying truth
He will bear our sins
Gossip!
Gossip, gossip, you are a treacherous hand
You are worth a murderer who killed at least two people.
Gossip!
Godless granny, you should know this too
A bullet that jumped from place to place and exploded twice.
Gossip!
SOCIETY
You, me, there is no we, we exist
Our value as assessed by society
We are the children of society – all of us
Society is our work
We are living seeds
The soil that feeds us is society
He knows neither how to respect nor how to cheat
What is sown is what is reaped.
If it exists in society, we will take it too
If it is not in society, we will be deprived
The hand of society that kneads us
So we should feed the society well
There is a reason for every occurrence
Causes have creators and destroyers
The branches sprout and grow for positive reasons
Seeds embracing the soil
Negative causes produce negative results
Societies that go on like this will certainly melt away one day.
Positive results are positive reasons
Success is in those who follow the right path
The well-being of individuals in society
At least, the unity of faith
WE ARE BURNING
You are a broken glass
I am a desti covered in moss
From clean hands reaching out
God cut off our fate
Neighborhood kids played ball with us
The old people made us wet
He didn’t turn to look at us.
So many lucky people in the world
Is this this world or the afterlife?
I wonder where we are burning?
I guess we’re dead, my love.
We think we live in the world
At least, the unity of faith
OR..?
I looked, obviously you are an angel
Even you are unique among angels
The mean hands have overthrown our world
He turned our heaven into hell
Are you a mortar and am I an almond being crushed in it?..
Or… are you Eve and I am Adam…?
LIFE
We came from leeches, you said,
Or from the monkey.
For God’s sake, what’s the point of this?!
Aren’t you human now!?
Life is not a game, that is clear;
Dream, illusion, dry consolation.
Mind, conscience, God’s gift;
It is best to use these.
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IN THE WORLD
Everyone has a case
Some are paid, some are free
All they will get is air, air!
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WORLD
Beautiful yesterday, ugly today
Yesterday love, today hatred
World, World
Did you see that too?
How come you don’t have a decision?
Loved yesterday, crushed today
The oppressed yesterday is resurrected today
World, World
Did you see that too?
How come you don’t have a decision?
We added trouble to trouble
We add again
We waited so long
We are waiting for you again
World world
Although there is no decision
But as long as you exist
Every day there is a hopeful tomorrow
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THIS WORLD
What are you, humanity, a street woman?
Nor am I, the individual, a murderer of men
You are the walking foot of the world
I am the hand that works
The rain of mercy has flowed away
There is mud left on the streets
People with a mirage in their eyes
Licking mud instead of water
Dirty streets, sinful cities are not ours
It is the world that draws our destiny one by one
Our souls, unfed for years, remain hungry
What can the world give us? It needs it more than we do.
What are you, a street woman?
Nor am I a murderer of men
You are a poor man looking for something strange
I am also a madman who is immersed in your gaze
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