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ORSAM<br />
CENTER FOR MIDDLE EASTERN STRATEGIC STUDIES<br />
the control of bazaar and its neighborhood,<br />
customers no more came to shop. I closed the<br />
shop. Everything remained inside. I brought<br />
along my children and came to Turkey. Since<br />
then, I have gone to Aleppo twice. Most of the<br />
stores were plundered and destroyed. I started<br />
to search for my shop among the piles of<br />
stone and concrete. It was partially destroyed,<br />
and some of my stuff were plundered. I wanted<br />
to take what remained of it, but I did not<br />
have any means to carry them. Vehicles could<br />
no more come even near our bazaar.<br />
I opened a shop in Turkey. I rented vehicles,<br />
and hired drivers. I am in good shape. I rented<br />
a clean and a nice house. I send flour, sugar,<br />
biscuits, diapers, baby food and milk powder<br />
to Idlib and Aleppo through Kilis and Cilvegözü.<br />
Due to devaluation of SYP, the purchasing<br />
power of the people has decreased. I make<br />
a little profit. I aim to help those who have no<br />
job, and who cannot migrate here. Both drivers<br />
living in Syria and I earn money. In Syria,<br />
there are families living in misery and hunger,<br />
and expecting flour, bread, bulghur, rice. Syria<br />
is currently destroyed, and it will take long<br />
years to restore it.<br />
* This interview was made by Feyyat Özyazar<br />
in Reyhanlı district of Hatay on 15 January<br />
2013.<br />
An Interview with Taha Allavi al Hüseyin<br />
abu Nazmi, who came from Syria to Turkey<br />
and settled in Reyhanlı district of Hatay<br />
Taha Allavi al Hüseyin, who migrated from<br />
Karm al Cebel Rif district of Hama province<br />
in Syria, says that transportation in Hama has<br />
come to a stop and the roads were destroyed<br />
and that there is no safety in the area.<br />
ORSAM: Could you tell us about yourself?<br />
Taha Allavi al Hüseyin abu Nazmi: I am<br />
from Karm al Cebel Rif district of Hama<br />
province in Syria. I am 65 years old. I have 6<br />
children and 3 grandchildren. When I lived<br />
in Syria, I worked as a long distance dolmush<br />
driver. I had an automobile station and 8 vehicles.<br />
ORSAM: Could you tell us about your life before<br />
the civil war in Syria, and what you went<br />
through during the civil war?<br />
I have been an automobile driver for years,<br />
and I have been all across Syria. My sons also<br />
earn their living as drivers. When the civil<br />
war broke out, one of the first provinces being<br />
bombed was Hama. It is a place which had<br />
been bombed and which witnessed death also<br />
in the old times. After bombardments, urban<br />
roads and streets were so much damaged that<br />
they were all closed to traffic. When everywhere<br />
was full of barricades and under control,<br />
we could not work. When nobody came<br />
to Hama from other areas, the transportation<br />
sector came to a dead stop. There was no<br />
safety on highways either. In addition, many<br />
people were stranded due to the fuel oil problem,<br />
and they had to live with the worry of<br />
being shot. Afterwards, works came to a dead<br />
stop for security reasons. Jets, helicopters and<br />
sharpshooters in the city attacked our people<br />
many times. Many vehicles were attacked<br />
along with the passengers inside, and so many<br />
people were killed. I had 8 vehicles, and lost<br />
two of them. When the civil war broke out, I<br />
sold 4 of them. And my son and I use the two<br />
other vehicles left for our own needs.<br />
* This interview was made by Feyyat Özyazar<br />
in Reyhanlı district of Hatay on 15 January<br />
2013.<br />
An Interview with Jamal Nasser al Sarhani<br />
abu Kamil who came from Syria to Turkey<br />
and settled in Reyhanlı district of Hatay<br />
72<br />
ORSAM<br />
Report No: 157, May 2013
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