53-year-old Necmi Ali Kiro, who migrated from Al Rif district in Harim from Idlib Province in Syria, is a farmer and a father of 5 children.
ORSAM: Could you tell us about your life before the civil war in Syria, and what you went through during the civil war?
Necmi Ali Kiro-abu Mahfuz: I had a 20 decares of land in Harim, and my children and I made our living by planting vegetable on this land. This year we planted broad bean, onion, peppermint, pepperweed and parsley. I used to sell them to restaurants, butchers and to the people in bazaar in Salkin and Sermade districts. Beforehand, we did not even have life safety while harvesting the crops, but when Jaish al Hur seized control in our area and we found the opportunity to treat our water thanks to the centrifugal machine and to provide electricity through generators, we could both do farming and also were provided with water and power. Thus, we could meet our basic needs but due to the decrease of purchase power of the people and the fact that only a few people remained in the area, farmers brought their products to Turkey through vehicles or sometimes on their back to sell them in Turkey.
One of my children is at his military age, but I did not send him and he is still in Jaish al Hur. He took part in besieging Taftanaz Airport which is located near our area. And the other family members are in Turkey. We go to Syria and come back to Turkey in every two days, and we harvest whatever we grow in our field. It is problematic to come and go, but we do not have a job and income.
* This interview was made by Feyyat Özyazar in Reyhanlı district of Hatay on 15 January 2013.
