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ORSAM<br />
CENTER FOR MIDDLE EASTERN STRATEGIC STUDIES<br />
The sons of Lattuf Hamit were initially suppressed,<br />
and then they were put in prison.<br />
Lattuf Hamit states that the local people cannot<br />
be engaged in farming anymore and that<br />
the migration will further increase due to the<br />
economic difficulties and pressure.<br />
Lattuf Hamit Kinnavi: I am a villager coming<br />
from Raghbete village of Idlib in Syria,<br />
and I am 67 years old with 5 children. I did<br />
my best to provide education to my two sons<br />
under difficult circumstances. I am a father<br />
who provided education to my 5 children,<br />
my 2 sons and 3 daughters. My two sons are<br />
public officers. One of them is court manger<br />
in the district court, and the other one is an<br />
engineer in the transportation.<br />
ORSAM: What did you go through in Syria?<br />
How did you decide to come to Turkey?<br />
Lattuf Hamit Kinnavi: When Idlib and its<br />
neighborhood resisted against Bashar Assad<br />
regime, our village was included in the blacklist.<br />
All of us started to be regarded as the<br />
members of the opposition group, and we<br />
already are; but we did not stage a protest<br />
demonstration, because I am old. But people<br />
around me, my brothers and nephews take<br />
part in the actions. My sons were affected by<br />
these actions and first they were suppressed<br />
in Damascus, and them they were put in prison.<br />
They do not let us visit or talk to them,<br />
we don’t even know whether they are healthy<br />
or not. My children are married and have<br />
children, they have nowhere to go, I have a<br />
simple land and it is not enough to provide<br />
an income. The people in the neighborhood<br />
cannot engage in farming due to the conflict.<br />
The crops are destroyed, or set on fire. Thus, I<br />
took my wife, daughters in law and grandchildren<br />
along with me and directly came to the<br />
border. A couple of families form our village<br />
also came along with us. We all go to tent cities,<br />
and won’t come back until things get better.<br />
But I am concerned about my sons’ lives.<br />
ORSAM: Are the migrants’ houses, furnitures<br />
or their stuff in shops, if there are any,<br />
are preserved?<br />
Lattuf Hamit Kinnavi: There were people<br />
who emigrated from the neighboring villages<br />
before we fled to Turkey, and their crops and<br />
trees were all destroyed. The houses were<br />
evacuated, the old houses were set on fire,<br />
and some people moved in fancy houses. It<br />
totally turned into a country under invasion.<br />
People will further migrate from our region.<br />
* This interview was made by Feyyat Özyazar<br />
in Reyhanlı district of Hatay, on 14 August<br />
2012.<br />
An Interview with Isa Mahmoud abu Hikmet,<br />
a Syrian who fled to Turkey and currently<br />
lives in Islahiye district of Gaziantep<br />
Isa Mahmoud abu Hikmet works as agricultural<br />
product merchant. He asked his son to<br />
go over the hill after what he went through in<br />
the army, but then they were exposed to pressures<br />
as the whole family. He decided to flee<br />
to Turkey when his employees, relatives and<br />
villagers were started to be tortured.<br />
Isa Mahmoud abu Hikmet: I come from Rifatiyah<br />
village of Cisr Afrin district in Aleppo.<br />
I am 45 years old. I am a merchant, and have<br />
an educational background as agricultural<br />
technician. I frequently visit Aleppo as a part<br />
of my job. I talk to wholesalers who sell food<br />
products, receive orders from them, and then<br />
I harvest seasonal products from neighboring<br />
villages and grow crops depending on the order.<br />
ORSAM: Did you come to Turkey due to economic<br />
difficulties and pressures?<br />
18<br />
ORSAM<br />
Report No: 157, May 2013
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