Syrian revolutionaries who fled to Turkey to escape Syrian intelligence agents told Sunday's Zaman that the killings by the Bashar al-Assad regime would not make them give up the freedom fight and said any armed intervention by Turkey would be appreciated by the troubled people of Syria, Today's Zaman reported.
A Syrian revolutionary who fled to Turkey in mid-December, who goes by the codename Hamzeh for security reasons, said the daily killings of innocent protesters is only increasing the number of protesters who want a true democratic country. Hamzeh said many people in Syria are against foreign intervention, but Turkey is an exception. "We don't want a Western country to step into our country. We would appreciate their help if they were to take action on an international level, such as implementing a no-fly zone. However, I can say that people would appreciate Turkey entering Syria to remove the Assad regime. Turkey is an exception due to our shared history, and we know that Turkey would only intervene to bring peace to our country, not to gain control over it like other countries," he added.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced a series of sanctions against the Assad regime due to its military crackdown on an eight-month uprising. The foreign minister said the measures target the Syrian administration and will not harm the Syrian people. However, this move has affected the people as the Syrian government closed the border, preventing Syrians from traveling to Turkey or bringing Turkish products into the country.
"Prices have risen incredibly high in the country. For instance, the price of a kilogram of sugar costs five times more now. Additionally, you cannot exchange money now as no foreign currencies are available," Hamzeh said. He added that public workers are still being paid, and they can only withdraw a certain amount of money from ATMs as banks are not open. Hamzeh said the regime did this deliberately so that people cannot take their money and leave the country.
According to the Syrian revolutionary, anti-regime protests are taking place at every single city in the country. In the evenings, almost all Syrian cities are seeing huge spontaneous protests, where thousands gather without a specific call to action. However, this is not the case with the protests held during the day. "People only come out during the day [for a protest] when it's an organized one, and people gather because they have received a message from a fellow protester. The protest time is normally announced shortly before a call to prayer [Adhan], and the protest is held after the prayer," he added.
Hamzeh says police do not hesitate to shoot protesters outside of the capital, Damascus, but when police intervene in a protest in Damascus, police first use tear gas and shoot in the air to get protesters to leave the scene. When people refuse, security forces then shoot randomly.
Hamzeh was able to connect with three of his classmates from Damascus University through the Internet. His friends agreed to talk Sunday's Zaman but asked that their names not be used for their safety.
When asked about pro-Assad rallies held in Damascus, Hamzeh and his classmates said there is hardly any support for the regime. One of the students said, "Those people are either security-force members, agents in plain clothing or people who benefit from the current regime, like business owners who have links with the corrupted regime."
Another student added that during anti-regime protests, many people are arrested only for participating in the demonstrations, and they are detained for long periods of time without being interrogated.
The three students said that Syrian youth have gotten used to the tough situation and are not considering leaving the country or giving up the protests. One of them added, "We'll either be successful, or we will die for the freedom of our country. The killings committed by this regime will not make us give up."
Hamzeh mentioned that since Dec. 12, people in most of the country have boycotted the universities and schools. Parents are not sending their children to school, university students are not attending classes, and teachers are no longer going to work. However, this was not the case in Damascus until this week as some university undergraduates had still been attending lectures.
Currently Syrians are experiencing difficulties when traveling from one place to another, even short distances. "There are security checkpoints on all highways and people face random checks, too," Hamzeh said.
A Syrian man who spent eight years in prison for opposing the Assad regime, escaped from the country because Syrian officials were looking for him, and he arrived in Turkey on Tuesday with his wife. He refused to reveal his identity to Sunday's Zaman for security reasons and preferred to use the codename Khaled.
Speaking about a possible foreign intervention, Khaled told Sunday's Zaman that if the Syrian people call on any particular power to intervene and end the Assad regime, Assad would use this as a propaganda tool and say on state TV that the protesters have been marching for months so that the country will be invaded.
Khaled said that the Syrian youth will end the regime with little help. "This revolution will take place in the hands of the Syrian youth. If international powers set a no-fly zone, the revolution will happen very soon. However, if things carry on the way they are now, many people will die, but Syrians will achieve their humanitarian demand, to have a democratic state," he said.
Khaled said Syrians are expecting more action from Turkey and from Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, such as bringing the Syria issue to the UN or aiding the anti-regime soldiers, who left the state army and organized their own anti-government units. Khaled said that the Syrian regime would easily collapse if Turkey were to give 5,000 missiles to these units.
Moreover, Syrian revolutionary Hassan Omar, who fled to Turkey in June, was reportedly killed by Syrian intelligence agents when he fled to Lebanon in the last month. Omar was among the young generation playing a vital role in the Syrian revolutionary movement.
Omar told Sunday's Zaman in June that he actively participated in the ongoing uprising, and he was a wanted person in Syria. "My position is no different from that of my friends. Before I left Syria, I was actively participating in and organizing demonstrations in different parts of Syria. I was forced to escape from my country; had I not left, I would not be alive right now. I was a wanted person so I fled to Turkey illegally through the mountains," he said.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced a series of sanctions against the Assad regime due to its military crackdown on an eight-month uprising. The foreign minister said the measures target the Syrian administration and will not harm the Syrian people. However, this move has affected the people as the Syrian government closed the border, preventing Syrians from traveling to Turkey or bringing Turkish products into the country.
"Prices have risen incredibly high in the country. For instance, the price of a kilogram of sugar costs five times more now. Additionally, you cannot exchange money now as no foreign currencies are available," Hamzeh said. He added that public workers are still being paid, and they can only withdraw a certain amount of money from ATMs as banks are not open. Hamzeh said the regime did this deliberately so that people cannot take their money and leave the country.
According to the Syrian revolutionary, anti-regime protests are taking place at every single city in the country. In the evenings, almost all Syrian cities are seeing huge spontaneous protests, where thousands gather without a specific call to action. However, this is not the case with the protests held during the day. "People only come out during the day [for a protest] when it's an organized one, and people gather because they have received a message from a fellow protester. The protest time is normally announced shortly before a call to prayer [Adhan], and the protest is held after the prayer," he added.
Hamzeh says police do not hesitate to shoot protesters outside of the capital, Damascus, but when police intervene in a protest in Damascus, police first use tear gas and shoot in the air to get protesters to leave the scene. When people refuse, security forces then shoot randomly.
Hamzeh was able to connect with three of his classmates from Damascus University through the Internet. His friends agreed to talk Sunday's Zaman but asked that their names not be used for their safety.
When asked about pro-Assad rallies held in Damascus, Hamzeh and his classmates said there is hardly any support for the regime. One of the students said, "Those people are either security-force members, agents in plain clothing or people who benefit from the current regime, like business owners who have links with the corrupted regime."
Another student added that during anti-regime protests, many people are arrested only for participating in the demonstrations, and they are detained for long periods of time without being interrogated.
The three students said that Syrian youth have gotten used to the tough situation and are not considering leaving the country or giving up the protests. One of them added, "We'll either be successful, or we will die for the freedom of our country. The killings committed by this regime will not make us give up."
Hamzeh mentioned that since Dec. 12, people in most of the country have boycotted the universities and schools. Parents are not sending their children to school, university students are not attending classes, and teachers are no longer going to work. However, this was not the case in Damascus until this week as some university undergraduates had still been attending lectures.
Currently Syrians are experiencing difficulties when traveling from one place to another, even short distances. "There are security checkpoints on all highways and people face random checks, too," Hamzeh said.
A Syrian man who spent eight years in prison for opposing the Assad regime, escaped from the country because Syrian officials were looking for him, and he arrived in Turkey on Tuesday with his wife. He refused to reveal his identity to Sunday's Zaman for security reasons and preferred to use the codename Khaled.
Speaking about a possible foreign intervention, Khaled told Sunday's Zaman that if the Syrian people call on any particular power to intervene and end the Assad regime, Assad would use this as a propaganda tool and say on state TV that the protesters have been marching for months so that the country will be invaded.
Khaled said that the Syrian youth will end the regime with little help. "This revolution will take place in the hands of the Syrian youth. If international powers set a no-fly zone, the revolution will happen very soon. However, if things carry on the way they are now, many people will die, but Syrians will achieve their humanitarian demand, to have a democratic state," he said.
Khaled said Syrians are expecting more action from Turkey and from Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, such as bringing the Syria issue to the UN or aiding the anti-regime soldiers, who left the state army and organized their own anti-government units. Khaled said that the Syrian regime would easily collapse if Turkey were to give 5,000 missiles to these units.
Moreover, Syrian revolutionary Hassan Omar, who fled to Turkey in June, was reportedly killed by Syrian intelligence agents when he fled to Lebanon in the last month. Omar was among the young generation playing a vital role in the Syrian revolutionary movement.
Omar told Sunday's Zaman in June that he actively participated in the ongoing uprising, and he was a wanted person in Syria. "My position is no different from that of my friends. Before I left Syria, I was actively participating in and organizing demonstrations in different parts of Syria. I was forced to escape from my country; had I not left, I would not be alive right now. I was a wanted person so I fled to Turkey illegally through the mountains," he said.
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