An interview with the oldest man in the proposed security mechanism area

The oldest man living in the area where the security mechanism is being implemented in the countryside of Tal Abyad, northern Syria has not hidden his fears of serious consequences if Turkey launches a military attack on the areas of the east of the Euphrates.

Mustafa Mohammed Hamid, also known as ‘Sheikh Mesto’, from the village of al-Shaab, some 40km to the east of the city of Tal Abyad, on his identification card, he was born in 1905, but he says that he is older than that date about 17 years, stressing that he is now at the age of 131 years.

The village of Sheikh Mesto, 15km to the east of the town of Soluk, within the proposed area where the U.S., Turkey and SDF have agreed to establish the safe zone.

Sheikh Mesto expresses his fears of the attempts to control the region by Turkey, “Previously, the Ottomans used to say that this whole area even to the Euphrates belonged to them before the demarcation of the borders, so they are trying to restore history now,” Sheikh Mesto said, depending on his memory, which has witnessed lots of events.

Sheikh Mesto has experienced some important history dates that were turning points for the region, as he witnessed the demarcation of the borders after Sykes–Picot agreement, where he was working on the railway that linked between Syria and Turkey in 1916.

Sheikh Mesto’s parents recorded his age in official records, 17 years younger than his real age in order to avoid joining the compulsory service when the Ottoman Empire declared the general mobilization and war readiness (Seferberlik) back in 1914, during the First World War.

In August 1914, the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet Rashad issued a Farman (decree) forcing men between 15-45 years old to join the compulsory military service.

He pointed out that only 10 out of 100 people who went to the war were returning, by saying: “Most of them were being killed, the Turks had no religion, they were raping women and looting money”.

Sheikh Mesto witnessed the Armenian massacre which was carried out by the Ottoman Empire during World War I, as he adopted an Armenian infant, after he grew up, he left to Europe to join his real Armenian family, he said.

According to the old man, who suffers from hypoacusis, he married twice, both of his wives had died, he had eight children three of them died, and now he has 40 grandchildren.

Today he is witnessing the Turkish threats against northern Syria regions, and the implementation of the safe zone in his hometown and the surrounding villages. 

He says to the young men in his village: “Unite and defend your land, because the consequences will be disastrous”.