Özet:

In March 2011, in the Syrian town of Daraa, children whose ages ranged from nine to fifteen wrote anti-regime graffiti on a wall, which prompted the regime's security forces to arrest and torture the children. Soon after, Syrian citizens poured into streets to protest against the regime's arbitrary acts, and the regime responded this by shooting the peaceful protestors; this served to light the fire that would result in the Syrian civil war. However, although the events that took place in Daraa served to ignite Syria's civil war, there were, in fact, a great many other problems that had effectively led the country toward war. In order to understand the key factors behind the war, this study conducted interviews with 60 Syrian refugees in the Turkish provinces of Gaziantep and Hatay. These refugees were witness to what pre-war Syria experienced. In the semi-structured interviews conducted, the interviewees assessed the socioeconomic environment in Syria that contributed to the outbreak of the civil war. Among the economic problems that helped to usher in war in Syria were the high rate of unemployment and unequal distribution of welfare. In addition, the neo-liberal and privatization policies implemented under Bashar al-Assad served to create a new bourgeoisie class and further impoverish the majority due to a decrease in subsidies and other benefits. Further, the agricultural sector, which played an important role in Syria's economy, suffered a 4-year drought, which was made worse by the fact that the regime failed to take the necessary precautions that would have allowed the country to weather a problem of this nature and magnitude. This meant that, among other things, many Syrian citizens working in agriculture and husbandry experienced serious financial losses. As a result, two to three million people emigrated from the countryside to Syria's urban regions, and these migrations increased the cities' rates of unemployment. Moreover, real estate prices, which increased due to the arrival of Iraqi refugees to Syria during the 2003 Iraq War, and food prices, which had also increased in recent years, also played a role in the outbreak of war in Syria. Economics, however, were not the only factors that led Syria into war; there were social factors at work as well. Syria's civil war may have seemed inevitable, given the excessive control, pressure, and violence to which the Syrian regime subjected the country's citizens. Security forces and Mukhabarat (intelligence) made life increasingly difficult for the people of Syria, and there seemed no end to this, as opposition to the controlling regime had not been permitted since the Hafez al-Assad period. Further, although the interviewees suggested that there were no major pre-war problems among Syria's various sectarian groups, the Bashar regime played on old fears in order to secure the support of Alawites against the Sunni-dominated opposition. The regime also set the Shabbihas, which are comprised primarily of Alawites, against the opposition groups and their brutal acts added a sectarian dimension to the Syrian civil war.

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