TEL TAMR, Syria (North Press) – On the pavement of M4 highway in the town of Tel Tamr, north of Hasakah Governorate, northeastern Syria, the young man Abdulqader Hamishli sells watermelon.
By noon, Hamishli could not sell the hoped-for quantities due to recent Turkish military escalation on the countryside of the town that resulted in the deterioration of purchasing power.
Through the past three weeks, residents of Tel Tamr have been living in a state of concern after residents who live on contact lines northern and western of the town were displaced and headed south towards neighboring camps and safe villages.
The town of Tel Tamr has been under constant attack by Turkish military and its affiliated armed opposition factions, known as Syrian National Army (SNA), for more than two years.
Due to the continuous Turkish shelling of the vicinity of Tel Tamr, markets are deteriorated, as all work fields were affected, especially small projects on which limited-income people depend.
Hamishli, who is an IDP from Aleepo Governorate, stressed that markets are greatly decreased due to the Turkish shelling.
The watermelon seller, as watching passers-by as he may sell his goods, said, “previously, purchasing power was better, as I used to sell two trucks of watermelon daily, while now, I hardly sell a ton per week.”
Stalls’ owners indicated that they used to depend on those coming from the countryside, but after the recent Turkish bombardment, purchasing has greatly decreased due to fears of repeated shelling and the displacement of families.
According to officials in Tel Tamr Military Council, a military formation affiliated with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), several families from villages that have been shelled headed towards camps in Hasakah or Derik (al-Malikiyah), in the far northeast Syria, while others moved towards the safe southern villages in the town.
Lately in July, the Turkish forces shelled the countryside of Tel Tamr, resulting in the killing of a civilian and wounding about twenty others, including children and elderly, in addition to material damage.
Khedr al-Darwish, 40, has been working as a nut seller on his small stall for nearly four years.
Al-Darwish complains about the lack of purchasing power and fears that things may get worse.
The man, who is a father of two, said, “Recently, purchasing power has declined due to the Turkish shelling and things are getting worse unfortunately.”
Ahmad al-Tawil, an IDP from the village of Tolan in the city of Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain) in northeastern Syria and lives in Tel Tamr, described the purchasing power, saying, “It is zero.”
After he used to be a farmer, al-Tawil now works on a stall, selling clothes with his wife and son.
“We do not afford our daily expenses,” he added.
Tel Tamr, which has a population of about 25.000 and is 30km away from the Syrian-Turkish border, is of strategic importance as it is a junction on the M4 Highway linking the Jazira region in northeast Syria to Aleppo governorate in northwest.
Parts of the northern and western countryside of the town and the entire southern countryside are protected by the Syriac Military Council and the Assyrian Khabour Guards Forces, while the Turkish-backed SNA control the northern countryside up to the city of Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain) on the northern border of Syria.