Famagusta Walled City

The story of the murder of Arap Ali takes place in Famagusta.  It is the sad story of brave a man who was the victim of British bayonets, according to certain sources. Others say he was killed and then dragged behind a car, and still others say he was left where he was murdered.

Arap Ali was the father of Önder Konuluoğlu. He was from Limassol but the incident took place in Famagusta.

(There are two different accounts regarding the Lament for Arap Ali. One of them is called “The Famagusta Port”, and the other is “Meyhane’den çıkdım yan basa basa../I came out of the  meyhane wobbling...” .

The tale talks about the night Arap Ali was killed, in 1943.  They say he was a man who loved eating and drinking, and frequently found himself in trouble as he was a fair person. One day Arap Ali traveled to Famagusta to unload goods, and then went to a meyhane (Turkish style tavern).  He got into a fight with British soldiers due to an incident.  He beat a couple of them up, but then, the soldiers ambushed and killed him.  Some accounts say he was bayoneted and then dragged behind a car all the way to the airport; others say he was left where he was killed.

We do not know which account is true, yet bayonet wounds are real.

Source: Eralp Adanır  (Cited from his interview with Çağla Konuloğlu)