ETHNIC PERSPECTIVE IN EPICS: THE CASE OF HASAN BULLILER

Owing to its strategic position, Cyprus has repeatedly changed hands between dominant powers in the Eastern Mediterranean: Egyptians, Hittites, Akkadians, Assyrians, Persians, Romans, Arabs, Italians, Ottomans and the British are but some examples. Under Ottoman rule, in 1571 was introduced the “Millet ” system in Cyprus: members of different religions were considered a single “Millet ” ‘nation ’ and each Millet had its own religious and educa-tional institutions as well as civil law; the result could be consid-ered self-government (evikel 1997). When Cyprus became under the British rule in 1878, the Millet system was maintained with some modifications. It was in these circumstances that the events underlying the epic of the Hasanbullis took place (Gürkan NA; smailolu NA): Turkish Cypriot brothers nicknamed Bulli hid in the mountains in 1887–1888 and 1894–1896 as they believed they were unjustly accused and sentenced. During that time they com-mitted several crimes. Despite this, both Turkish and Greek Cypri-ots regarded the Hasanbulli brothers positively as people fighting against the regime. Ten to fifteen years later, two epics in Turkish and Greek, plus various publications and works of art based on the event were written (see e.g. apura NA; Kareklas 1938