Displaced Afrin Kurds resort to music to relieve heartache
FAFEEN, Syria – Zeineb and her sister where displaced from Afrin when Turkish forces and their Syrian proxies seized the Kurdish-majority canton in early 2018. Now living in Shahba IDP camp in northern Syria, they spend their days and nights making and listening to music.
“Music is very nice to me. If you want to end your heartache, you need to do it through music,” Zeineb told Rudaw.
“I never forget memories of Afrin. Afrin was beautiful. There were trees and gardens we visited. We used to go to school and had fun in Afrin. But here, there is nothing to do.”
Shahba IDP camp, situated just north of Aleppo city, is controlled by the People’s Protection Units (YPG), a Kurdish militia forced out of Afrin by Turkey’s Operation Olive Branch. The UN estimates upwards of 150,000 people were forcibly displaced by the operation.
Farhad is a music teacher from Bulbul, a village close to Syria’s border with Turkey. He gathers children from the camp to make music.
They have composed 25 songs about Afrin and their lives in the camp.
Farhad says the saz, a traditional string instrument, is the only friend of the Kurds during hardship.
“Tambur is the base of songs for us. It’s the base of our culture,” Farhad told Rudaw. “Tambur, as a real friend, has kept our rights and history. Tambur is a very famous and important friend.”
Last year they established a camp band of 25 members. However, the group lacks musical instruments.
Making music helps the children keep local traditions alive and maintains their sense of identity in displacement.
“Music is very nice to me. If you want to end your heartache, you need to do it through music,” Zeineb told Rudaw.
“I never forget memories of Afrin. Afrin was beautiful. There were trees and gardens we visited. We used to go to school and had fun in Afrin. But here, there is nothing to do.”
Shahba IDP camp, situated just north of Aleppo city, is controlled by the People’s Protection Units (YPG), a Kurdish militia forced out of Afrin by Turkey’s Operation Olive Branch. The UN estimates upwards of 150,000 people were forcibly displaced by the operation.
Farhad is a music teacher from Bulbul, a village close to Syria’s border with Turkey. He gathers children from the camp to make music.
They have composed 25 songs about Afrin and their lives in the camp.
Farhad says the saz, a traditional string instrument, is the only friend of the Kurds during hardship.
“Tambur is the base of songs for us. It’s the base of our culture,” Farhad told Rudaw. “Tambur, as a real friend, has kept our rights and history. Tambur is a very famous and important friend.”
Last year they established a camp band of 25 members. However, the group lacks musical instruments.
Making music helps the children keep local traditions alive and maintains their sense of identity in displacement.