Baharlı Neighborhood Pictures: PART TWELVE
This article presents a collection of images and family genealogies from the Baharlı neighborhood, highlighting the enduring friendship between a Kurdish and an Azerbaijani family through generations.
AZERBAIJANI TURKISH FAMILY GENEALOGIES AND PICTURES
Wife of Kelbayı İbrahim Bayat
In this genealogy, I would also like to include a meaningful family memory that shows how the friendship between two families, one Kurdish and one Azeri, was reflected in generations and even in the names of children.
Hasan Bayat is originally from the vicinity of Alıkızıl, today known as Yukarı/Aşağı Topraklı villages. From the 1950s onwards, Hacı İsa Yiğit, son of Ali Mirze Bey, served as the headman (muhtar) of seven villages in this region. The acquaintance that began through his muhtar duties evolved over time far beyond an ordinary neighborly relationship; a strong, sincere, and lasting friendship was established between the Bayat and Yiğit families.
One of the most beautiful tokens of this friendship lives on in the names given to the children of the two families. When Hacı İsa Yiğit's three sons were born, Hasan Bayat, as a sign of his closeness and devotion, arranged for these children to be given his own name, Hasan, and the names of his brothers, Hüseyin and Ali. Thus, the names of the three brothers continued to live on in the new generation of the Yiğit family.
This loyalty was not one-sided. Hacı İsa Yiğit later became the godfather of Kelbayı İbrahim Bayat's sons, Sebahattin, Alaattin, and Serhat.
Thus, the friendship between the two families is carried from generation to generation not only in memories but also in the names of the children. Hasan, Hüseyin, Ali; Sebahattin, Alaattin, and Serhat… Each of these names is a living memory of the friendship established years ago between the Bayat and Yiğit families.
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