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ORSAM
CENTER FOR MIDDLE EASTERN STRATEGIC STUDIES
I ran out of everything I had in the pharmacy,
and I had nothing left. I could not find and
bring any medicine except for simple medicines.
When I had nothing left to sell, I closed
my pharmacy. As I was blacklisted for helping
the opponents, my house started to be constantly
watched by the Syrian regular army. I
could not leave my house for months. My 16
year old son and 18 year old daughter went
shopping together. Telephone lines were cut,
and mobile phones were wiretapped. There
was no chance to properly have a conversation
with anyone. Lastly, I built up my courage
and talked to the members of Syrian regular
army. I paid a price and came to the area
controlled by Jaish al Hur after leaving Idlib.
I came from Idlib to Babel Hawa and arrived
in Cilvegözü without any batter, and finally
entered Turkey. The bombardment in Aleppo
still continues. Jaish al Hur seize the control
of two third of the city, while Syrian regular
army seize the control of the rest. There are
lots of people who want to come to Turkey. If
the events continue like this, the number of
migrants will further increase.
* This interview was made by Feyyat Özyazar
in Reyhanlı district of Hatay, on 5 November
2012.
An Interview with Kemaleddin Mustafa
abu Hamza, who came from Syria to Turkey
and settled in Reyhanlı district of Hatay
Kemaleddin Mustafa abu Hamza who has a
grocery store lost many members of his family.
When he could no more stand the living
conditions in Syria, he came to Turkey.
Kemaleddin Mustafa abu Hamza: I come
from Dana district of Idlib province in Syria. I
am a father with 4 children. I am 43 years old.
I have a grocery store. I have 3 brothers and
17 cousins. We are an extended family.
ORSAM: Could you tell us about your life
before the civil war in Syria, what you went
through during the civil war and the reasons
why you came to Turkey?
Kemaleddin Mustafa abu Hamza: When the
civil war broke out, my relatives and brothers
joined Jaish al Hur. Some of them fought in
Idlib, while some of them fought in Aleppo
against the Regular Army. Three people in
our family were martyred. Wives and children
of the martyrs were desolated. I started to
support them. As the violence became more
intense, our house and grocery store were
destroyed. We could save some of our stuff,
but most of them were buried in the wreckage.
We could see those who joined Jaish al
Hur once every ten days. We got information
from them about what was going on, and we
learned the issues we could be helpful about.
First of all, I sent the orphaned children to
Turkey. Currently, they stay in the tent city in
Kilis. On the other hand, we settled in somewhere
near Tirmenin Village. When the Army
completely seized the control of Idlib, my
grocery store was plundered. When someone
migrated, their houses and stores were plundered
by the Regular Army and by those who
still lived there. Nobody had pity on others.
Some people robbed not to starve, and some
others started a gang and took advantage of it.
Everywhere with lights on started to be
bombed. When cluster bombs started to be
dropped, people were stuck in a completely
difficult situation. Some people were injured
on their face and hands, while some other
were hospitalized. There was no hospital,
school, groceries left in the neighborhood.
Electricity and water was constantly cut off.
In addition, when winter was about to come,
I decided that we could no more live there. I
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ORSAM
Report No: 157, May 2013