When the conflicts broke out, carpenter Vahed Lutfi Al Habbaz-Abu Mustafa firstly sent his family to Turkey; then he also came here as it became quite difficult to live in Syria.
Vahed Lutfi Al Habbaz-Abu Mustafa: I come from Keferuruk village of Idlib in Syria. I am 43 years old, and a father of 5 children. I am a carpenter and joiner. I have an atelier with all kinds of machines and lumbers on 2 decares of land on Idlib-Aleppo route. I make door, window, office furniture to order for offices, houses, state institutions and organizations. I have 5 employees in the atelier.
ORSAM:Could you tell us about your life before the civil war in Syria, what you went through during the civil war and the reasons why you came to Turkey?
Vahed Lutfi Al Habbaz-Abu Mustafa: Right after the outbreak of civil war, our village was bombarded. Cluster bombs were dropped, a great number of children and women were killed. People started to emigrate from the neighboring villages and districts. This situation led to a downturn of trade. As we could not sell anything, we could not manufacture either. Jaish al-Hur was seized the control of our area. When our houses were destroyed as a result of the bombardments, they built shelters. We began to stay in those shelters along with my family. My brother was killed during the conflicts. First of all I sent my family to Turkey. Then I carried on staying in Syria on my own. During the day, we stayed in woodlands, out of the village. During nights, on the other hand, we stayed anywhere we saw light. However, we had to sit by candle light. Winter almost came. There was no firewood in our neighborhood. Fuel, on the other hand, is very expensive. If the bombardment continued, more people would have to immigrate throughout winter.
We cannot even perform our prayer together with the crowd the way it used to be. Because wherever there is a crowd, that place is bombarded. Pro-Assad reporters are all around. We call them “Shabiha”. When a whistleblower is detected, whether he is from the public or Jaish Al-Hur, he is immediately executed.
There are only very old and poor people left in our village and in the neighboring villages. Everybody immigrates. I could not stay on my own any longer and I came to my family in Turkey
* This interview was made by Feyyat Özyazar in Reyhanlı district of Hatay, on 25 November 2012.
