Ali Yaliman – May He Rest in Peace

By Margaret Sheard

Chris and I were devastated to hear the news of the death of Ali Yaliman yesterday (Friday 26th April) and our thoughts go out to his wife Gűlseren (Rosa) at this sad time.

I had known Ali since I first came to North Cyprus 9½ years ago. For some years he was a neighbour living in a property at the rear of mine and I recall most days hearing him calling the many cats he used to feed, at one stage there were 8 or 9. When Ali and Rosa moved to Bellapais some years later they took most of the cats with them but only one stayed with them, the rest all made their way back to Ozanköy and Ali used to bring food for a long long time to feed the ones which came back.

A year or so ago, meeting Ali in Girne, he told us about the new newspaper which was to be launched, the new Weekly Cyprus Observer, and he was to be Editor in Chief. Before long we were both contributing articles to the newspaper and enjoyed the experience very much. Later we decided to move on and create a website but are very grateful to Ali for his guidance in writing the type of articles he wanted for the newspaper for the enjoyment of the readers.

Knowing that Ali had gone into hospital with a heart problem we had no idea how serious it was to become so the news of Ali’s death has hit us very hard.

So rest in peace Ali, a quiet and dedicated man.