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INTERVIEWS WITH SYRIAN REFUGEES IN REYHANLI - I ORSAM As my family was in good shape, I started to work in the village with my dad without completing my studies in Aleppo. We have our land, sheeps and goats, tractors, agricultural equipments and machinery, and livestock carrier. 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? Bekkar Hamid el Cannad abu Aziz: Our village is the most developed village in the neighborhood in terms of transformation and construction plan which is located between Aleppo and Hama, also which has an itinerary to Damascus. We had electricity, water, schools, health centers and everything. While we lived in a peaceful atmosphere, we did not have peace anymore like the rest of Syria when the civil war broke out. When Jaish al Hur supporters and the regular army supporters divided our village into two, we started to fight, and people were killed and injured in both parties. People started to migrate. Only 20 household population remained in the village from 150 household population. When everyone immigrated, there was no more security in the village. As our highways were closed to traffic, living in the village and raising livestock became meaningless. Besides, when my employees left the village as well, only my children and I were remained in the farm. We had hard times, we were concerned and frightened. There were burglars and gangs around us. They started to prey on us. We did not know who supported whom anymore. My agricultural equipments, and livestock were taken away from me by force. My livestock perished, and I could no more find animal feed water. Our houses were set on fire and destroyed, and I moved to another place. I sold my livestock at a low price. Only my car and tractor remained. I brought along my wife and children and came to Turkey with as much as stuff we loaded to our car. As the living conditions in Turkey is relatively more expensive than it was in Syria, I had to work. I opened a stall and here I sell wrap. In other words, I run a mobile kebab shop. Because the only thing I know about is sheepherding agriculture. I do not know anything else, or have any profession other than this to make my living. One of my adult sons work in a bakery, and my other son sells vegetable on a barrow. As we have to live here, we have to endure this hardship and poverty as the price of saving our lives. * This interview was made by Feyyat Özyazar in Reyhanlı district of Hatay on 6 December 2012. An Interview with Muammer Necib Hasan abu Adil, who came from Syria to Turkey and settled in Hatay Muammer Necib Hasan’s son was badly injured by a shrapnel piece, and he became permanently disabled. When poverty, accommodation and heating problems arose, he came to Turkey. Muammer Necib Hasan abu Adil: I migrated from Hamdaniye neighborhood of Aleppo, Syria. My workplace was located in Bebibecnen neighborhood. I am a father of 3 children and I am 32 years old. 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? ORSAM Report No: 157, May 2013 51
ORSAM CENTER FOR MIDDLE EASTERN STRATEGIC STUDIES Muammer Necib Hasan abu Adil: I inherited the spice store, which I run in Aleppo, from my father. I sold all kinds of spice and coffee. When Jaish al Hur seized the control of both our neighborhood and the neighborhood where my store was located during the civil war, the Regular Army started to fire bombs into these neighborhoods by air. My 10 year old son was badly injured by a shrapnel piece when he was in bread line in front of the bakery, and he became permanently disabled. Our family was unsettled we had no more peace. There was no one left around to whom I could sell the goods in the store, neither could I have pulled the goods out of the wreckage. Everything stayed in place. Right now, my store is locked, but the upper floors and my neighborhood are all destroyed. I do not know what is left behind, because I can by no means go there right now, because the area might be bombed at any moment. When I lost my source of income and I had no other choice, I brought my wife and my children along with me and we moved to a relative who lives near Idlib. My relative lives in Tirmenin village in Idlib. Despite the transportation problems, poverty etc. in the village, it is a good place in terms of life security. It is not a shelled area. However, before we arrived here, the Regular Army came and took young men away to join the army. Agicultural activities and business life came to a dead stop. Villagers pick from fields and make their living by selling a vegetable called Kömeç, and onion, lettuce, spinach they plant in their garden. They bake their bread on old style sheet iron. Due to the lack of meadow, pasture and feed, villagers cannot get benefit from their livestock as they are not fed sufficiently, so they sell their livestock to merchants. I had to come to Turkey due to poverty, accommodation and heating problems as winter is about to arrive. I rent a shanty house in Hatay Reyhanlı. Sometimes I work as porter, farm laborer, construction worker, or whatever I find. Although I have hard times as I do not have a profession, I am striving to adapt myself into the living conditions here. Most of those coming from our region are working as well. 52 ORSAM Report No: 157, May 2013
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