You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
ORSAM<br />
CENTER FOR MIDDLE EASTERN STRATEGIC STUDIES<br />
to Turkey. And you cannot find what you<br />
leave behind due to the robbery, they steal<br />
whatever they find. Some people make their<br />
living only by stealing things. Because they<br />
cannot do anything else. Relatives and friends<br />
do no more have a pity on each other, and everybody<br />
has become preoccupied with their<br />
own troubles. We lost the power of solidarity,<br />
our willpower and our homes.<br />
In Turkey, I work in random jobs; I load charcoal<br />
cement on transportation vehicles, I do<br />
whatever I find as a daily job and pay my rent<br />
and look after my children.<br />
* This interview was made by Feyyat Özyazar<br />
in Reyhanlı district of Hatay on 6 December<br />
2012.<br />
An Interview with Kaddur Hashim abu<br />
Ibrahim, who rent an apartment and settled<br />
in Reyhanlı district of Hatay<br />
Kaddur Hashim abu Ibrahim supported and<br />
provided financial assistance for Jaish al Hur,<br />
and thus he was blacklisted. He came to Turkey<br />
along with his wife as he was sought as a<br />
fugitive.<br />
Kaddur Hashim abu Ibrahim: I am from<br />
Akrebat village, Idlib province. I am engaged<br />
in livestock farming. I am 55 years old and<br />
father of 5 children. My two children have<br />
college degrees, and it is thanks to my shepherding<br />
and stockbreeding. However, I could<br />
not provide them with a good job. Those who<br />
graduated from the same school and department<br />
were assigned to high positions as they<br />
were from Baath Party, but my sons are only<br />
a regular civil servants. They are still in Syria<br />
and I do not reveal their identities to prevent<br />
any possible damage to them. My other son,<br />
on the other hand, is engaged in trade in Idlib.<br />
My two daughters are married, and one of<br />
them migrated to Turkey with her husband<br />
months ago, while my other daughter is still<br />
in Idlib.<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 />
Kaddur Hashim abu Ibrahim: Like all people<br />
who are oppressed, we took sides with<br />
the opposition group as well. Our house was<br />
destroyed, my animals all perished, I was despised<br />
and assaulted; but I have never changed<br />
my view. Also my children live like a refugee<br />
as if they are not a Syrian citizen. While they<br />
work as civil servants under those who are<br />
less educated than themselves, others work in<br />
top positions. There is no equality, no justice.<br />
Therefore we are filled with hate, and we oppose.<br />
The families I know who suffered like me<br />
joined the Jaish al Hur for this reason. Therefore,<br />
those who have means started to fight. I<br />
provided Jaish al Hur with financial support,<br />
I opened up my house to a couple of people<br />
for a while, and I shared my bread with them.<br />
The Regular Army knows that I help those<br />
people, so I was blacklisted by the army. And<br />
also my relatives. Including my family and<br />
people around me, all of us lost our properties<br />
and everything.<br />
I brought my wife along with me and we came<br />
to Turkey. But my children, my grandchildren<br />
are still in Syria. I have a pickup truck, I buy<br />
food products and blankets and bring them to<br />
Syria. And I sell those in rural areas.<br />
Those in Syria live in poverty and misery as<br />
factories do not work anymore. The production<br />
came to a halt due to the constant blackout<br />
and the lack of oil. However, they main-<br />
56<br />
ORSAM<br />
Report No: 157, May 2013
Change language