SIBELIA EL-IBRAHIM

Manbij-Since October 5, the Turkish state has been intensifying its attacks on North and East Syria. In October, the farmers in the region start harvesting olives; however, they cannot harvest their olives this year due to the ongoing Turkish bombardments. 11,906 hectares of agricultural land in Manbij is often targeted in the Turkish bombardments.

The farmers, who cannot go to their agricultural land due to the bombardments, say some of their crops are destroyed due to the bombardments. Zakia Al-Muhammed, a farmer in the village of Al-Dandaniyah, said, “We cannot go to our agricultural land due to the ongoing bombardments so some of our crops are destroyed. We cannot start harvesting olives because our agricultural land and our village are under intensive bombardment. There are pistachio, pomegranate and olive trees in our village and most people earn a living from these products. We face financial difficulties because we cannot harvest olives. Now, we have to buy olives and olive oil.”

 ‘It hurts our heart’

Zakia Al-Muhammed told us that they had made great efforts to grow their olive trees. “We spent all our energy digging wells and taking care of these trees; however, we cannot harvest olives now. What we are going through hurts our heart. In addition to the bombardments, the Turkish drones often fly over the village. They scare people, especially children.”

‘We have not had a peaceful life for 12 years’

In her speech, Ahlam Tamer, another farmer in the village of Al-Dandaniya, drew attention to the war that has been going on in Syria for 12 years. “Since the crisis and war started, we have not had a peaceful life,” said Ahlam Tamer, underlining that they have been living in fear due to the Turkish attacks and bombardments targeting their villages for the last six years. “Our houses are targeted in the bombardments. The school in the village has been closed for 10 days due to the ongoing bombardments. We cannot harvest our olives. Actually, we have been able to harvest olives for six years. Due to the ongoing Turkish bombardments, our agricultural lands have been destroyed.” Ahlam Tamer condemned the Turkish attacks and called on the international community to stop Turkish attacks on North and East Syria.