The History of the Kavaz Family

The name Katri originates from Qadiriyyah. The Qadiri Order is one of the oldest Sufi Orders and derives from the name, Abdul-Qadir Gilani (1077-1166), who was a native of the Iranian province of Mazandaran. The order is one of the most widespread of the Sufi orders in the Islamic world, and spread to Central Asia, Turkey, Cyprus, Balkans and much of East and West Africa. The Qadiriyyah have not developed any distinctive doctrines or teachings outside of mainstream Islam but believe in the fundamental principles of Islam, however, they interpret it through mystical experience. This name was normally given to certain individuals who followed the order of the Qadiriyyah. [1] What this implies for our ancestor Mehmet Katri/Kadri is not clear. What is clear however is that during the Ottoman period it was normal to use the name of the order one belonged to. 

The origins of the Mehmet Katri family in Lurucina span at least 10 generations – Hasan Yucelen in his research found that Mehmet Katri was said to have come from Manisa Turkey, but settled in Dali and then eventually Lurucina [2]. Dates are hard to establish but Ismail Mehmet Kavaz, the son of Mehmet Katri, was born in 1791[3] so from these assumptions are made that Mehmet’s birth would be approximately 25-35 years previous.

In the mid 1700s, Cyprus was plagued by epidemics and regular swarms of loucsts which was followed by years of severe drought and the population decimated by death, pestilence and migration. The 1777 census showed the population at only 84,000 – although this may be unreliable, what is clear is the Cypriot population was in decline. With the Ottoman empire also in a decline, Cyprus was in dire straits, and army deserters roamed around the road from Nicosia to Larnaca, in order to rob and harass others as brigands. The village of Lurucina was smack in the middle of the two towns and the authorities needed a person of courage and experience to control the area – it was against this backdrop Mehmet Katri was offered large tracts of land in order to control, arrest and keep order. 

The true extent of the land given is not certain but looking at the Ottoman census on the ownership of land amongst Mehmet Katri’s grandchildren, an indication of the extent to which this family were well rewarded for the service was given. This amounted to no less than 220 separately divided plots of land and the size varied depending on whether they were farm-land or living accommodation. The 1831 census of Muslim ownership land in Lurucina showed that the whole village owned land equivalent to 2210 donums of which 112 were vineyards [4]. With a total population of only 104 Muslims divided into no more than 6-8 family groups, it is most likely correct to assume a massage percentage was owned by the Katri family group. According to the 1879-82 census, only 4-5 family groups owned a few plots as opposed to many who just their tiny homes and farm plots. 

For the state to have offered such large amounts of land for such a service, this meant Mehmet Katri had the experience and a reputation that the authorities were very much aware of. One of his doings was the construction of a small building as a post opposite the Phillidotissa Church near the main road; this also acted as a shelter when working the large tract of lands around the area. The building was still standing in 1882 as it was clearly identified (as Katrini) in Lord Kitchener’s map of Cyprus which he prepared soon after Britain took control in 1878. [5]

Mehmet Katri had four sons and as the land was extensive and fertile they cultivated large tracts of vineyards, and other farm produce. It turned out that one of his sons Yusuf (Aga) was a bit independent and often argued with his father. The Ottomans were constantly recruiting men for the army and Mehmet offered his son Yusuf believing that it may help change his attitude. Sadly in those days army service could last many years and as it turned out Yusuf took after his father  and went onto become a successful soldier. A courageous man handy with the sword and shield in hand-to-hand combat, became a bodyguard. He educated himself and earned the title of “Aga”. With no communication in those days and years having passed, the ageing Mehmet believing his son to be dead allocated the land to his remaining three sons, Kara-Mustafa ‘Hrisafi’, Veli and Ismail ‘Gacari’ and left some for himself. On his release Yusuf feeling aggrieved at his father’s actions decided to settle in Nicosia where he became a judge (Yargic). [6]

In those days it was customary to leave a basket of produce by the edge of the fields as a courtesy for passersby, but under no circumstances were they allowed to go and help themselves in the fields. One day Mehmet Katri spotted two men helping themselves to the grapes and becoming angry, arrested and handed them to the police. By a strange coincidence the thieves were brought before Judge Yusuf Aga, his son and realising that the case involved his father, passed an unusual sentence on the men. They were to be escorted by police to go before Mehmet Katri, get on their knees, kiss his hand and beg for forgiveness. Anticipating his father’s anger at such a light sentence he ordered the police that if Mehmet wished to challenge this sentence then he had the right to appeal in person to the Judge. As it turned out when the thieves in the presence of police carried out their sentence, Mehmet Katri became angry and asked the police “hangi deyus bu karari verdi”, (“what rascal has given this judgement”) . He immediately accepted the message given by the police from the judge and went to Nicosia with the policemen. Entering the court house he repeated his previous statement and came face to face and with his son and eventually started to embrace each other. After a long talk Mehmet persuaded Yusuf to come back to Lurucina where his share of the land was reinstated. Yusuf went on to have 5 children. Mehmet Can-Nuri, Veli ‘Kelle’, Bekir ‘Onbasi’, Yusuf ‘Aga’ (Bedasi) and Hacer who married Suleyman ‘Truho’.

Soon after Yusuf Aga settled back in Lurucina there was a wedding at Mehmet ‘Cemberli’s’ house. While the party was in full flow, a number of Albanian soldiers who were stationed nearby entered the house fully armed and demanded that the local strongmen had the right to sleep the night with the bride before the groom. This obviously caused massive concern and fear and someone suggested that they delay the proceedings in order to call Yusuf Aga for help in sorting out this unexpected intrusion. On receiving the news Yusuf dressed in full military uniform, with sword and shield in hand made his way to Cemberli’s house, standing on the front door, this unexpected sight alarmed the Albanian soldiers Yusuf lifting his sword smashed the oil light on the ceiling and advanced towards the Albanians. His advance convinced the so-called tough guys that they were up against an unusually fearless person and their next move was to run towards the nearest exit [7]. Judging by the issues in question this incident may have taken place in the 1820s. Strangely many Cypriots were often complaining about the arrogant and bullying methods of the Albanians who were based in Cyprus at the time and by the early 1830s most were replaced by Arabic (Mostly Egyptian) troops [8] who seem to have integrated much better into the gentler manner of the locals. There are a couple of family trees in Lurucina who originate from the Albanian and Bosnian people and this was confirmed in the Ottoman census of the period, and until recently everyone called them by their family nickname of ‘Arnauti’ and ‘Bosnak’s’.[9]

The fourth son of Mehmet Katri was named Ismail Mehmet ‘Kacari’. and his son, Mehmet Ismail born in 1810 was to become the first person that earned the name Kavaz.(Guard). Fortunately, during a time when casualties in the Ottoman army were immensely high, he had survived and it was speculated that serving as a guard rather than in the front line was a major factor for this. That being said, to be given the title Kavaz, you must display courage and toughness. 

Mehmet Kavaz married Ayse Yusuf ‘Siliono’ in 1839 and they had 5 sons & 2 daughters. This family originally settled in Pirga village before making a final move to Lurucina. In addition to inheriting large amounts of land from his father, Mehmet Kavaz must have earned a decent amount of wealth as he did in fact own a lot of land, and when his sons also returned from their service in the military, the amount of land owned by the family was enormous. Mehmet continued his civilian life as a Resber and also had a large number of animals which in the 1800s was a guaranteed source of wealth. Proof of this is that generations later, in spite of constant distribution of inherited land, there was still a substantial amount of land in the family. Ismail ‘Ismailo’, their first son was born in 1844 and he alone left tens of donums to his son Mehmet Ismail Kavaz ‘Ganu’ and according to the Descendants of Bekiro and Seido (Seyidali born in 1854) large amounts of land were owned by their relatives. The family homes were centred not far from the Mosque, between the stream and the Arabic ‘Siliono’ family, whilst their farmland was spread outside many parts of the village. The union of these 2 families must have been a big event because the Ottoman records show that between the 2 families, the plots of land amounted to 38 separate plots plus 80 sheep and goats, 2 cows, 3 donkeys and a mule for the Arabic family and 44 plots for the Mehmet Kavaz family plus 80 sheeps and goats, 2 cows, 3 donkeys. Together this amounted to no less than 82 separate plots of land. [10] An astronomical amount by the standards of the period.

Mehmet’s son Arif ‘Pasha’ married twice. His first wife died soon after having a son who was named Mehmet ‘Kaplan’ and his second wife was a Greek lady who was a devout Christian Orthodox. This was shown thorugh their children who were baptised and named Petros, Banayis, Yorgis and Athanasia. No doubt she must have had a great influence on her husband and for a man who served as a Kavaz with the title of Pasha, adopting such a drastic course would have created tremendous friction in the family. The family, except for Mehmet ‘Kaplan’ moved to Limassol and not much more is known about his baptised children. 

Bekir Mehmet Kavaz ‘Bekiro’ (another son of Mehmet Kavaz) was by most accounts a tough, well respected and devoted family man. On his return from the army he married the daughter of Mustafa Huseyin ‘Ushi’ and had two sons Mehmet ‘Bekiro’ and İsmail ‘Efendi’. Sadly, she died young and being a single parent in the 1880s-90s was no easy life. It was at this time that Pembe Mehmet ‘Gatsura’ also became a widow – her husband Rustem Hasan (son of Hasan Yusuf ‘Arap/Siliono’) also died young leaving her with two sons Mehmet ‘Birgo’ and Yusuf ‘Abeydo’. As the deceased Rustems aunt (Hala in Turkish) was also the mother of Bekir Kavaz then arranging the couple to be married was considered to be a great ‘sebab’, after all with four children between them they had a lot in common. It turned out to be a successful marriage and together they had another four children. Veli ‘Gutsoveli’, Serife, Katriye and the youngest born in 1908 Osman. By all accounts all the children grew up as one family. Ismail ‘Efendi’ became one of the first teachers in the village and features in a famous school photo taken in 1946 with his young students. The youngest Osman was a popular person at family weddings and supposedly had a great voice and was often encouraged to sing at all family gatherings.

Seyit-Ali’s daughter, Keziban (1892-1955), married Mehmet Ramadan (May 11, 1886 – February 15, 1972). Mehmet joined the police force and moved to Larnaca around 1905. Together, they had eleven children. With the onset of World War II, Seyit-Ali and his twin grandsons, Hasan and Hussein, enlisted in the Cyprus Regiment. Mehmet Ramadan, who had become a corporal, had to relocate frequently due to his job as a policeman. Hasan and Hussein, Mehmet and Keziban’s twin sons, were born near Limassol in 1922, while their younger brother Seyit-Ali (named after his grandfather Seyit-Ali Kavaz) was born in Larnaca in 1925.

In 1939, World War II began, and by 1940-41, Nazi Germany had overrun Europe. The British Empire was fighting for survival. Turkish and Greek Cypriots rallied to the call of arms, with 20,000 Cypriots volunteering to fight for Britain. The twins were among the first to volunteer, but Seyit-Ali was too young and had to lie about his age to enlist. The Cyprus Regiment was formed, and Hasan was soon sent to defend the island of Crete against the experienced German paratroopers. Unfortunately, Hasan was captured along with other Cypriots.

Many served out the war as prisoners, but Hasan escaped and joined the partisans in Crete. His knowledge of the Greek language allowed him to pass as a local Greek civilian. He narrowly avoided capture a second time by escaping through the back of a house and fleeing to the mountains, where he continued to fight with the Resistance until the British Army liberated the island. Hasan then rejoined his unit in the 8th Army, better known as the Desert Rats, in North Africa. Meanwhile, his younger brother Seyit-Ali was also serving in the war.

Corporal Seyit Mehmed Ramadan, witnessed many historical moments during WW2 (i.e.: the bombing and destruction of Monte Cassino) and got into quite a few scraps. As an 18 year old, one night in March 1944 whilst on Guard Duty, he saved the life of his Platoon, whilst they slept. Apparently, he heard a noise in the distance and, shouted out for them to halt and identify themselves. When no response came, after the third time, he let out a shot. Everyone awoke and they went to investigate further, in the dark of the night, only to find a dead soldier. It turned out he was a German and Seyit killed him with a bullet to the forehead. He got very upset about killing a fellow human, but his Platoon Commander told him that it was a very good thing that he had done, because he had saved all their lives. 

It was on 9 September 1944 when Hussein (one of the twin brothers) was leading a convoy in the mountains of Italy. As it had been raining the roads were narrow, slippery and treacherous and without any warning an American convoy suddenly came head on from around the bend. His motorbike skidded forcing him off and caused terrible injuries and he died. The official version was ‘battle accident’ and he was buried at the Ancona military cemetery where he still lies today. On his tombstone he is listed as ‘Corporal Hussein Mehmet, CY/1217’. [13] As for recognition, there is a letter from Prince Charles to Seyit, which acknowledges his contribution to WW2, but sadly has not been found. In addition he had other letters, from The Queen, Prince Phillip, Prime Ministers etc. This family’s sense of duty and honour seems to have seeped down through the generations and the younger generation are no doubt proud of their forefathers’ achievements.

Another great achievement of any Luricinali was that of Alper Mehmet. Becoming an ambassador for the UK to Iceland in 2004. No doubt as an extended family the whole of our village felt the pride as in one’s son

Alp Mehmet (born Alper Mehmet) is a former British diplomat and one of the Alp Mehmet United Kingdom’s first two ethnic minority ambassadors.

Mehmet arrived in the United Kingdom from Cyprus in 1956 when he was aged eight and was educated at Parmiter’s Grammar School in East London, and at Bristol Polytechnic. Upon graduation from Bristol, he became an immigration officer (1970–79) and then an entry clearance officer in Lagos, Nigeria (1979–83). In 1983, he entered Her Majesty’s Diplomatic Service, serving in Romania, Germany and Iceland (twice) and leaving in 2008. When he was appointed as Ambassador to Iceland in 2004, he became one of the first two British ambassadors from ethnic minority backgrounds to be appointed. He now sits on the advisory council of Migration Watch UK.

It’s clear from the above that the Mehmet Katri family was no ordinary family. The tradition of military toughness and courage has been passed down through generations. The latest being the son of Ayse & Tuncer Mehmet & grandson of Mehmet Seyit-Ali ‘Mono’, who by a strange coincidence carries his great granddad’s name Mehmet Kavaz. Mehmet served as a Colour Sergeant (a guard to the flag bearer). in the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, an infantry regiment. Though it has no fixed ”home” i.e. the regimental headquarters is The Tower of London. Mehmet’s long career since 1989 has seen him serve in many parts of the world like Bosnia, Cyprus, Germany, Northern Ireland, Canada and the Falklands all during the 90’s and has served in Iraq and Afghanistan this century. He married Corrine in February of 2005 and they have two strapping sons named Adam and Jacob. It seems Mehmet’s desire to continue his proud career has not diminished. In fact he is now currently an Army Careers Advisor for the British Army. [16]

No doubt the spirit that brought Mehmet Katri and the Kavaz’s to Lurucina runs in the veins of the present day youth. So the sons of the Katri’s/Kavaz seem to be in many corners of the world. Taking their achievements and pride of their ancestors with them. In love or in tragedy one thing is certain, their gentle shadow still looms over the hills and valleys of Lurucina from whence they came.

[1] Wikipedia & Encyclopaedia Britannica

[2] Hasan Yucelen. Akincilar/Lurucina Turklerin Yuzyillik Varolus Mucadelesi page 29.

[3] Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Devlet Arşivleri Genel Müdürlüğü.1831-3 Osmanlı Nüfus Arşivleri . State National archives of The Republic of Turkey. 1831 Ottoman census Page 145.. “Osmanlı İdaresinde Kıbrıs, Nüfusu-Arazi dağılımı”

[4] Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Devlet Arşivleri Genel Müdürlüğü.1831-3 Osmanlı Nüfus Arşivleri . State National archives of The Republic of Turkey. 1831 Ottoman census Page 145. “Osmanlı İdaresinde Kıbrıs, Nüfusu-Arazi dağılımı”.

[5] Maps of Lord Kitchener. Section 10, drawn in 1882, and published in 1885.

[6] Akincilar/Lurucina Turklerin Yuzyillik Varolus Mucadelesi pages 30-33

[7] Akincilar/Lurucina Turklerin Yuzyillik Varolus Mucadelesi pages 30-33

[8] A heritage of 400 years by Kıbrıs Vakıflar İdaresi.

[9] Ottoman census of 1879. Doc No; 164-a-2 (327) 5720. & Doc No; 154-a-3. (307) 5383.

[10] Ottoman census of 1879. Doc No; 160-a-3 (319) No; 5594 & Doc No : 158-a-2 (315) 5513.

[11] Ottoman census. Doc No; 160-a-3 (319) 5594.

[12] Family memoirs of Tina Kemran (daughter of Seyit Mehmet.

[13] Military service record of ‘Corporal Hussein Mehmet, Issue of campaign service medals to next of kin. 01.04.1998.

[14] Wikipedia.

[15] Osman Yusuf Pire.

[16] Mehmet Kavaz.