Omar Asım Al Hadravi – Abu Rıdwan, who made his living by selling kitchen utensils, came to Turkey after his store was bombed. He says that Syria is now in a total mess, and it will not get any better for a long time.
ORSAM: Could you tell us about your life before the civil war in Syria, and what you went through during the civil war?
Omar Asım Al Hadravi – Abu Rıdwan: I am from Al Afa Neighborhood of Aleppo, Syria. I am 45 years old, and a father of 3 children. I had a store where I sold kitchen utensils. The rich people and high-level officials came to my store for shopping. Violent conflicts broke out after August 2012 in Aleppo. After the civil war broke out, all the rich people in Aleppo started to leave the city. The bazaar was bombed. When the opposition seized the control of bazaar and its neighborhood, customers no more came to shop. I closed the shop. Everything remained inside. I brought along my children and came to Turkey. Since then, I have gone to Aleppo twice. Most of the stores were plundered and destroyed. I started to search for my shop among the piles of stone and concrete. It was partially destroyed, and some of my stuff were plundered. I wanted to take what remained of it, but I did not have any means to carry them. Vehicles could no more come even near our bazaar.
I opened a shop in Turkey. I rented vehicles, and hired drivers. I am in good shape. I rented a clean and a nice house. I send flour, sugar, biscuits, diapers, baby food and milk powder to Idlib and Aleppo through Kilis and Cilvegözü. Due to devaluation of SYP, the purchasing power of the people has decreased. I make a little profit. I aim at helping those who have no job, and who cannot migrate here. Both drivers living in Syria and I earn money. In Syria, there are families living in misery and hunger, and expecting flour, bread, bulghur, rice. Syria is currently destroyed, and it will take long years to restore it.
* This interview was made by Feyyat Özyazar in Reyhanlı district of Hatay on 15 January 2013.
