It is time for this week´s installment of "Try to Translate a Barış Manço Song." This week´s selection, dedicated to a friend, is "En Büyük Mehmet Bizim Mehmet." As usual, any help is appreciated. (I am a bit confused about the word order here sometimes, for instance.) Also, I am curious to know your thoughts about the meaning of the song. Barış seems to be saying that despite all his troubles, Mehmet is a special child, everyone loves him, God favors him. But is there something more going on here that I am not getting?

Also, I love the Turkish idiom in this song. From Wikipedia: The Turkish idiom "bundan iyisi Şam´da kayısı" (literally, the only thing better than this is an apricot in Damascus) means "it doesn´t get any better than this". It is used when something is the very best it can be, like a delicious apricot from Damascus.

En Büyük Mehmet Bizim Mehmet (The Greatest Mehmet, Our Mehmet)

Öksüz doğdu Mehmet (Mehmet was born an orphan)
İte kaka büyüdü Mehmet (Mehmet grew up in the rough-and-tumble)
Onbir yaşına doğru (Until age 11)
Okula da gitti Mehmet (Mehmet also went to school)
Çaka çaka okudu da Mehmet (Tied down, Mehmet also studied) ???
Döne döne başı döndü Mehmet (Whirling, Mehmet´s head whirled) ???
Diploma hak getire Mehmet (Mehmet doesn´t have any diploma)
Okumayı sökemedi ki Mehmet (Mehmet who didn´t make it through reading)
Saldım çayıra Mehmet (I sent Mehmet to the meadow)
Mevlam kayıra Mehmet (My God favors Mehmet)
Bütün köy toplansın (You gathered the entire village)

Bu Mehmet ne ballı çocuk (This Mehmet, what a haloed child) 

Vallahi çok şanslı çocuk (I swear it´s true, a very lucky child)

Ne amcası var ne dayısı (Neither paternal uncle nor maternal uncle living)
Bundan iyisi Şam´da kayısı (It doesn´t get any better than this)
Mehmet, ula Mehmet (Mehmet, ??? Mehmet)
En büyük Mehmet bizim Mehmet (The greatest Mehmet, our Mehmet)
En büyük Mehmet bizim Mehmet (The greatest Mehmet, our Mehmet)

Askere gitti Mehmet (Mehmet went into the army)
Eğitim gördü Mehmet (Mehmet lived through basic training)
Jandarma komando (Police commando)
Doğuya da gitti Mehmet (Mehmet also went to the east)
Alavere dalavere Mehmet (Dirty tricks, Mehmet) 
Hadi yine yürü nöbete Mehmet (Okay, once again Mehmet walks his watch)
Askerlik uzadı Mehmet (Military service dragged on, Mehmet)
Gelmedi tezkere Mehmet (Discharge papers didn´t come, Mehmet)
Saldım çayıra Mehmet (I sent Mehmet to the meadow)
Mevlam kayıra Mehmet (My God favors Mehmet)
Bütün bölük toplansın (You gathered the entire company) 
Bu Mehmet ne ballı çocuk (This Mehmet, what a haloed child)
Vallahi çok şanslı çocuk (I swear it´s true, a very lucky child)
Ne amcası var ne dayısı (Neither paternal uncle nor maternal uncle living)
Bundan iyisi Şam´da kayısı (It doesn´t get any better than this)
Mehmet, ula Mehmet (Mehmet, ??? Mehmet)
En büyük Mehmet bizim Mehmet (The greatest Mehmet, our Mehmet)
En büyük Mehmet bizim Mehmet (The greatest Mehmet, our Mehmet)

Bir kızı sevdi Mehmet (Mehmet loved a girl)
Eridi de bitti Mehmet (Mehmet grew weak and exhausted)
Ama başlık parasını (But his title, money)
Bulamadı gitti Mehmet (was found to be gone, Mehmet)
Nuh dedi kız babası Mehmet (Noah, said the girl´s father, Mehmet)
Peygamber demedi Mehmet (The prophet Muhammad, said Mehmet)
Kız eline kına yaktı Mehmet (The girl henna´ed her hands, Mehmet)
Babası paraya taktı Mehmet (Her father took Mehmet´s money) ???
Olmadı gitti Mehmet (Never happened, Mehmet)
Bir ömür bitti Mehmet (A life finished, Mehmet)
Bütün köy toplansın (You gathered the entire village)
Bu Mehmet ne ballı çocuk (This Mehmet, what a haloed child)
Vallahi çok şanslı çocuk (I swear it´s true, a very lucky child)
Ne amcası var ne dayısı (Neither paternal uncle nor maternal uncle living)
Bundan iyisi Şam´da kayısı (It doesn´t get any better than this)
Mehmet, ula Mehmet (Mehmet, ??? Mehmet)
En büyük Mehmet bizim Mehmet (The greatest Mehmet, our Mehmet)
En büyük Mehmet bizim Mehmet (The greatest Mehmet, our Mehmet) 

Çaka çaka okudu da Mehmet (Tied down, Mehmet also studied) ???
"çak-mak", slang, in school or in an exam, fail, repeat the same class again.

Döne döne başı döndü Mehmet (Whirling, Mehmet´s head whirled) ???
"başı dön-mek" to be dizzy

Saldım çayıra Mehmet (I sent Mehmet to the meadow)
when you let the farm animals free on green grass, they go and eat freely, nobody do anything to disturb them... like that mehmet is totally free...

"Saldım çayıra, Mevlam kayıra" is an idiom, i do not say and do anything about it, let him do whatever he wants...

Mehmet, ula Mehmet (Mehmet, ??? Mehmet)
"ula" name, or "ulan" name, emphasis on the ula word. if someone do strange and wrong things and you are about to scold him, you start with "ula"

Jandarma komando (Police commando)
"jandarma" is military police, you have to be a soldier to be a "jandarma".

Askerlik uzadı Mehmet (Military service dragged on, Mehmet)

as a punisment, military service never ends if you do bad things in army. normal schedule is 15 months but i saw a soldier stayed in the army for 5 years and he have to stay there more then a year, too!

Gelmedi tezkere Mehmet (Discharge papers didn´t come, Mehmet)
if you imagine the army as a school, "tezkere" is its diploma, you cannot complete the military service without it, its the final point.

Bütün bölük toplansın (You gathered the entire company)

bölük is a group of soldiers mostly living in the same military building, like 50 to 100 soldiers together...

Ama başlık parasını (But his title, money)
"başlık parası" in some parts of the world and turkey, amount of money a male pays to the girl´s father in order to marry her. if he dont pay, the father do not let him to marry his daughter.

Nuh dedi kız babası Mehmet (Noah, said the girl´s father, Mehmet)
Peygamber demedi Mehmet (The prophet Muhammad, said Mehmet)

"nuh dedi peygamber demedi" is an idiom, everbody knows noah is a prophet but he never accepts this... stubborn, persistent

Kız eline kına yaktı Mehmet (The girl henna´ed her hands, Mehmet)
girls use henna before marriage, we understand that the girl about to marry someone else.

Babası paraya taktı Mehmet (Her father took Mehmet´s money) ???

like "kafayı tak-mak", "kafayı birşeye tak-mak" here "kafayı paraya takmak" i dont know how to say this in english...

No wonder these songs are so hard to understand -- so many idioms! Thank you for all this help! But does this mean that Mehmet is not a good character? Is he a troublemaker? This is changing my outlook on the song.

Mehmet is not a bad character actually. But he is not an educated well grown up ideal man. Mehmet here is the average young turkish man about 30-40 years ago in countryside of anatolia. Destiny is not good for him, he is poor, uneducated, have no responsibility... This is not all his fault.