Baladi - Media
Since the war in Syria pushed tens of thousands of people to resettle in foreign countries. Turkey alone has taken in over 3.5 million Syrian refugees.
Last month, TRT World Citizen paid a visit to the Altinozu Container Camp in the Hatay province of southern Turkey – 500 meters from the Turkish-Syrian border, and met some Syrians who did not give up.
The karate teacher
Ibrahim Baluni
From Latakia, Syria
After arriving at the camp, I immediately fell back to my previous job of karate instructor.
In 1995, I became the fourth-best karate champion in Syria. After completing my military service, I carried on practising and teaching martial arts.
My family and I left Syria when the war began in 2011. We travelled through cities and villages by sea, while participating in protests against the Assad regime.
I spent roughly six years in the Free Syrian Army: I started as an informant, then continued as a journalist who travelled to various occupied regions to cover the events.
I now have around 80 students at the camp, and I am proud to say that some are able to fight and use self-defence at a very high level. They have entered championships in Gaziantep and won three first-place medals.
My main focus is teaching the orphans at the camp. They are my biggest concern; I want to be able to teach them to look after and protect themselves.
Karate is as much about self-defense as it is about self-respect and respect for others.
There are three principles I teach my students: to pray, study hard, and exercise.
A Family of Teachers
Karima al Mohamed
We have been in this camp for a year and four months, but we were in the Yayladagi camp for five and a half years before that.
My youngest was born in Turkey; I was pregnant with her when we crossed the border.
I used to give private tuition when I was in Syria but I was mostly at home looking after my children. However, since coming to the camp, my husband and I started teaching to earn extra money to survive. The camp gives us 100TL a month but even then, we are just about able to scrape by.
Since we moved I have been trying to learn the Turkish language and I’m really getting the hang of it. But my husband has been struggling a lot.
A Student
Iman, 19
Idlib, Syria
I come from a family of eleven siblings. Some are here in Turkey and the others are in Syria and Jordan.
I have been in the camp for two years now. I left Syria because the situation kept getting worse; there was too much bombing.
It was difficult to leave, especially as I was doing extremely well in school. I really wanted to excel and continue my studies. I even asked my father if I should go and study in the regime-occupied areas, even though our family is vehemently anti-Assad.
I have two brothers here in Turkey who are married. They left Syria at the beginning of the revolution and applied for my three sisters and I to come.
My parents didn’t want to leave. We have land and orchards in Syria and my father, who is quite old, refuses to leave his home, no matter what.
I want to study medicine and become a doctor; anything that will give me the opportunity to help other refugees, the poor, and the needy. I want to help and support people of all backgrounds, races, and religions.
Iman has applied for a scholarship in Mustafa Kemal University in Antakya, and she's waiting for response.
Source: TRT World