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ORSAM<br />
CENTER FOR MIDDLE EASTERN STRATEGIC STUDIES<br />
* This interview was made by Feyyat Özyazar<br />
in Reyhanlı district of Hatay on 6 December<br />
2012.<br />
An Interview with Zekeriya Haman al Shemmari<br />
abu Hamza, who came from Syria<br />
to stay in Reyhanlı district of Hatay<br />
Zekeriya Haman, who has an olive oil factory,<br />
says that we will stay in Turkey until peace<br />
and security is brought about in Syria.<br />
Zekeriya Haman al Shemmari abu Hamza:<br />
I come from El Rif district of Salkin village,<br />
Idlib. I am 47 years old. I am a farmer, and<br />
I have olive trees and a factory of olive oil. I<br />
have 5 children. I received religious education.<br />
During the Hafez Assad period, the government<br />
distributed lands to the people, and I<br />
also benefited from the land reform. I planted<br />
olive trees on the land I received from the<br />
government, and I started to engage in olive<br />
farming by also renting lands from those<br />
in the neighborhood who are not in a good<br />
shape. In due course, I expanded my lands<br />
and I owned an olive oil factory. When my<br />
sons grew older, we maintained this job as a<br />
family in our area. I have a car, tractor, and<br />
a pickup truck for transportation, and I have<br />
my employees.<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 />
Zekeriya Haman al Shemmari abu Hamza:<br />
When the civil war broke out, our district was<br />
divided into two parts: Pro Assad supporters<br />
and opposition. Pro Assad supporters claim<br />
that they benefited from the land reform in<br />
the past, and that they make their living thanks<br />
to these lands despite the fact that these are<br />
state lands. The new generation, on the other<br />
hand, opposes as they prefer a more modern<br />
life against the oppression and maltreatment.<br />
When the government forced them to fight<br />
against the opposition and to report them<br />
everything, it turned into a conflict because<br />
as there are both pro Assad supporters and<br />
opponents within a family, they realized they<br />
had to report each other. They would either<br />
do that, or their lands would be taken away<br />
from them, and given to pro Assad supporters.<br />
They fought against each others for a long<br />
time, but they could not reach an agreement<br />
in their districts.<br />
On one hand, Jaish al Hur members started<br />
to attack pro Assad supporters, and on the<br />
other hand pro Assad supporters started to<br />
attack the opposition forces. We were caught<br />
between two fires. Our lands were destroyed<br />
slow by slow, as well as our houses.<br />
Both due to the lack of order among ourselves<br />
and we were targeted by the government, we<br />
decided to migrate, and many people in our<br />
district migrated. We had means to come to<br />
Turkey with our family, and we did so. Only<br />
a member of our family was injured, but nobody<br />
was martyred in our family. In Reyhanlı,<br />
children and I buy food products and a variety<br />
of products, load them to our pickup truck<br />
and carry them to Syria through the border<br />
and we maintain our life like this. We will stay<br />
in Turkey until things settle down and peace<br />
is brought to Syria.<br />
* This interview was made by Feyyat Özyazar<br />
in Reyhanlı district of Hatay on 6 December<br />
2012.<br />
An Interview with Velid Mohammad Zeydan,<br />
who came from Idlib Province of Syria<br />
to Turkey and has been receiving treatment<br />
in Hatay<br />
58<br />
ORSAM<br />
Report No: 157, May 2013
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