Cemal Abdo Hashim-Abu Nureddin: I am from Kefellesin Village (which is locted close to the Cilvegözü border zone of Turkey) of Idlib in Syria. I am 45 years old. I have 4 children. I am engaged in retailing and wholesaling food in the customs area. My workplace is open 24 hours a day. I have 10 employees except for my children.
ORSAM: Could you tell us about your experiences in Syria and the reasons why you came to Turkey?
Cemal Abdo Hashim-Abu Nureddin: When the civil war broke out, I was one of the well-known rich people of the district. First of all, our export routes were blocked. No export goods entered into our borders. Even if there was any, it was too expensive. The purchasing power of the people simultaneously decreased. As we could not find/sell export goods, we started to do with domestic goods. When the routes to Damascus and Aleppo also came under threat, I started to sell goods in the storages in Idlib and its neighborhood. There were conflicts all across the region, but I couldn't see it would come to this point. I thought the events were temporary and that the Army would bring peace before long. Nevertheless, one night tanks suddenly blockaded our area. Thousands of soldiers entered in villages, towns and customs area. As we thought the soldiers came to capture criminals and arms, we did not worry about it. However, this was not the case. They took away whatever they found in my storage. My safe box, my house, everything in the house etc… As all my employees were young, they were all recruited into army. As my adult son was also recruited into the army, I was all on my own. My thousands of dollars, millions of Syrian Liras were seized. Then, I wanted to gather all my receivables. Some of them opposed to this, and said they wouldn't give; while some others said they could not afford to pay as they had been robbed like me. We had some savings and golds that my wife had hidden in the house. So that, we could flee to Turkey along with my little children. We rent a house in Reyhanlı and now we wait. I can hear neither from my son nor from my employees.
* This interview was made by Feyyat Özyazar in Reyhanlı district of Hatay, on 5 November 2012.
