34 year-old Dervish Talib al Hasawi-Abu Mahir, who had to migrate from al Rif district of Muarra, Idlib province of Syria, graduated from the University of Aleppo, Department of Literature. He is a father of two children and a high school teacher.
ORSAM: Could you tell us about your life before the civil war in Syria, what you went through during the civil war, and what brought you to Turkey?
Dervish Talib al Hasawi-Abu Mahir: My father is a poor peasant who owns a couple of small cattle and 8 decares of land. And I have two sisters. He made great sacrifices for my education. We had a peaceful life.
Muarre district is an area where Jaish al Hur and al Nasr units are found. When the voluntary units called SUVVAR arrived in our district after the escalation of civil war, the conflict grew worse. As a person who lived in poverty and fought against the regime for years, I quit my job and joined the warrior group. When I left the job, also my salary was cut, the area we lived in was bombed, our house was destroyed and we lost everything we had including our animals. I sent my old parents, my wife and children to Turkey. My family has been in Turkey for 4 months, and I arrived here in new year.
I both fought and struggled to meet all kind of needs of my friends including food and clothing. I carried many injured to the border and then I turned back to my unit. Those who fought in Jaish al Hur received monthly salary. And I sent my salary to my family. I made do with food packet they gave us and stayed with friends in hut-like places. We surrounded the the airport in Taftanaz for several times, and they repelled us. We did not have much chance as it was a flat terrain. Each time some of us were injured or martyred. Our weapons were not enough to defeat the armored unit, we were not provided with strong weapons and sometimes we even ran out of missiles. Most of the time, we only ate once a day. We could rest, take a shower, and change our clothes only once a month. As we lived in hard conditions, most of our friends were depressed, they fed up, exhausted and some of them left their units. They deserted. Even though it was possible to alternately go to rear areas and rest for a while, there were problems such as lack of water, electricity, shelter and food in those areas. We had no difference from those who were in the front line. Because the neighboring villages, settlements were still bombed… Wherever they saw a light, or any sign of people living in a house, they bombarded the area.
Eventually I could not stand anymore and came to Turkey. I do whatever I find as a job. I worked as a porter, I loaded goods of Syrians on vehicles and sold them in Syria. We bring some goods with commercial profit to Turkey and sell them here. After passing the winter in Turkey, I will go back to fight if things do not get any better.
* This interview was made by Feyyat Özyazar in Reyhanlı district of Hatay on 15 January 2013.
