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ORSAM<br />
CENTER FOR MIDDLE EASTERN STRATEGIC STUDIES<br />
became more difficult to go to neighboring<br />
provinces, I could not transport passengers to<br />
Aleppo either. Therefore, I brought along my<br />
family and crossed the Turkish border. I am<br />
not planning to go back to Syria until things<br />
settle down in the country.<br />
* This interview was made by Feyyat Özyazar<br />
in Reyhanlı district of Hatay, on 25 November<br />
2012.<br />
An Interview with Fadıl Kasım al Cibril<br />
abu Nahsen who came from Syria to stay in<br />
Reyhanlı district of Hatay<br />
“We felt like we lived in a country under occupation,”<br />
says Fadıl Kasım al Cibril abu Nahsen<br />
who is a broker in wholesale market hall.<br />
Fadıl Kasım al Cibril abu Nahsen: I lived in<br />
Kellese neighborhood in Aleppo, Syria. I am<br />
37 years old, and a father of 2 children. I make<br />
my living by acting as a broker in wholesale<br />
market hall.<br />
ORSAM: Could you tell us about your life<br />
before the civil war in Syria, what you went<br />
through during the civil war and the reasons<br />
why you came to Turkey?<br />
Fadıl Kasım al Cibril abu Nahsen: When<br />
the civil war broke out, my two brothers were<br />
both enlisted in the army by force. As families<br />
and soldiers could no longer hear from each<br />
other, I could not hear from my brothers either.<br />
When Aleppo and the neighborhood were<br />
bombed; the wholesale market hall was one<br />
of the first places attacked due to the fact<br />
that it is located in center of the city. When<br />
the roads of the neighboring villages were<br />
blocked, we couldn’t work anymore. No vegetable<br />
or fruit arrived in central Aleppo. However,<br />
as there was no bombardment in areas<br />
where the army seized the control, in suburbs<br />
and highways, people could set up shops in<br />
those places.<br />
As the areas where Jaish al Hur (Free Syrian<br />
Army) seizes the control were constantly<br />
bombed, none of the shopping centers<br />
worked. Because the local people did not<br />
leave their homes and went to those areas, as<br />
they did not feel secure. In the areas where<br />
the army seizes the control, on the other<br />
hand, people went shopping in fear. Besides,<br />
the people and tradesmen can live in those areas<br />
in exchange for a certain price.<br />
I felt like I do not live in my country, but<br />
rather in a country under occupation. Neither<br />
our children could go to school, nor our<br />
wives could go outside. We were stuck. We<br />
could barely find water, and electricity was<br />
completely cut. The bottled gas we bought<br />
was both very expensive and also went on the<br />
black market. We could buy it only at high<br />
prices and we hardly found it. However, even<br />
if we bought gas, we had neither vegetable<br />
and fruit nor food to cook. We strived to get<br />
by only with tea and food for breakfast.<br />
In addition to such a life, we were also exhausted<br />
by fear, and thus we decided to immigrate.<br />
I packed my stuff, loaded it on my truck,<br />
and I drove through rural roads and finally<br />
arrived in Idlib with a heavy heart. Central<br />
Idlib is also under the control of Assad forces.<br />
In suburban villages, on the other hand, the<br />
Free Syrian Army seizes the control. I arrived<br />
in the border after many questions and great<br />
difficulties. I could come to Turkey after staying<br />
overnight in the border.<br />
* This interview was made by Feyyat Özyazar<br />
in Reyhanlı district of Hatay, on 25 November<br />
2012.<br />
44<br />
ORSAM<br />
Report No: 157, May 2013
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