Filiz Zeyrek

 

ADANA - 80-year-old Zeytin Özlü, who was forced to migrate to Küçük Dikili town of Adana’s Seyhan district from Diyarbakır province due to the state's repressive policies in 1980s, is struggle for lifebecause of financial impossibility. Living in hard conditions, Zeytin is waiting for solidarity.

 

The Kurdish people, who forcibly migrated to big cities of Turkey due to the state’s repressive and displacement policies, are combating assimilation and poverty. 80-year-old Zeytin Özlü is one of the Kurdish people migrated to Küçük Dikili town of Adana’s Seyhan district from Diyarbakır province because their villages were burned in 1980s by the state and she cannot earn her keep. Her difficult life has become more difficult after her grandson and her son were jailed and now she maintains her life with the help of stallholders working in the district bazaar. Stating that she faces eviction if she cannot pay her rent this month, Zeytin is waiting for solidarity.

 

‘I have difficult times’

 

“I live in a one-room house, I don’t have money to heat it,” Zeytin said, “My son and grandson lived with me but now both are in prison. I don’t have an income except for my three-month salary. I maintain my life with the help of stallholders and neighbors. I really have difficult times. I cannot buy a single wood in these cold days. I wish I lived in my homeland. Living here is difficult. I wish I could go to my homeland, but we have nothing there.”