Syrians offer their objects for sale in cheap prices to escape Istanbul
Istanbul – Muhammad Al-Yanayri – North-Press Agency
Activists circulated on social media, different advertisements shared by Syrians through private webpages of selling second-hand objects, where they offered some of their objects (furniture and various things) for sale in cheap prices; to escape the Turkish Istanbul, upon the unprecedented security campaign targeting the Syrians living there, especially those who violate owing their own Kimlik (temporary protection card), which is a card that serves as the document asserting the concerned person’s status as a beneficiary of temporary protection.
“I swear to God, I bought the bedroom furniture two weeks ago and it cost us 2000 Turkish Lira, the rest of the objects such as the washing machine, refrigerator, the sitting room and the closets, all are clean and new, we must sell all these objects including the bedroom at 1.800 Turkish Lira, because we are fleeing Istanbul. God punish the one who did this to us.” One of the ladies, shared this post on a webpage of selling second-hand tools in Istanbul, who explained after that the reason behind selling her objects that she is leaving the state since her temporary protection card is registered on another state.
North-Press reported that a number of other Syrians in Istanbul also offered their objects for sale on webpages. Among those reported, the owner of a webpage named Eleen Al-Sham (who lives in Esenyurt), has offered a refrigerator, a washing machine, closet and children’s toy for sale. While Zaher Masri, has offered a small flat with its contents for sale in the neighborhood of Soganli.
Among the examples that was also reported, was an account user named Kawther who offered the furniture of a whole house for sale because of the deportation, via the “Istanbul Arabs” webpage, as she shared pictures of the furniture she wanted to sell, in a good condition.
On the other hand, the sale processes come in parallel with warnings of damage that may occur in Turkish economy by the exit of the Syrians, on the basis that the Syrians have contributed to enhancing the performance of many sectors, especially the real estate sector, and their exit or considering Turkey an unsafe environment, may affect Turkish economy and the internal situation in one way or another.
A large segment of the Syrians in Istanbul are afraid of being deported to Syria, especially that some of them violate living terms in Istanbul, as well as other concerns related to work permissions, travel and so on. While the directorate of Bab Al-Hawa crossing border estimated the number of Syrians deported from Turkish territory to about 4.380 people since the beginning of July.
There are about 548.000 Syrians living in Istanbul alone, forming 3.64% of the population, while the total number of Syrians in Turkey is about 3.561.070 people, according to statistics of the Turkish Ministry of Interior, last May.
(A.S.), a young Syrian resident in Istanbul a year and a half ago, said that his temporary protection card is registered on a state other than Istanbul, but his work in Istanbul forced him to stay there. Now he is threatened of losing his job if he decided to leave to the state he was registered on, in addition to the inevitability of deportation at any time he gets arrested.
He said to North-Press that he is thinking of taking the step that will change a lot in his current situation, which he described as relatively “stable” since he left Ghouta in Damascus, stressing that it is essential to grant the Syrians a real deadline to get ready for their new situation, especially that the deadline that was granted a few weeks ago was fake, as deportation processes are still on, “and we live in fear of deportation.”
The Turkish society is witnessing discrepancy over the situation about the Syrian existence, especially in the various segments in Istanbul, which was expressed during a solidarity demonstration organized last Saturday in Al-Fateh neighborhood, where the participants expressed their solidarity with the Syrians, where they were faced by another demonstration against the Syrian existence in Turkey, as skirmishes took place between the two sides.
The recent days witnessed escalation in sharp attacks against the Syrians and their existence in Turkey by Turkish politicians. In a speech addressed to a crowd of his supporters on Saturday, the chairman of the Turkish National Movement Party (MHP), Devlet Bahceli, called for a safe zone in northern Syria under Turkey’s control and supervision, in a depth of 30 km (30 miles) and then, repatriate Syrians to Syria gradually and in batches.