Forums » Smalltalk » AMA: Syrian heritage

I'm Syrian (from Aleppo) and have lived here most my life.

Ask me anything!

What do you love most about Aleppo?

You said you've lived there most of your life - where else have you lived?

Aleppo has a lot of great historic spots, for example Aleppo Citadel, a castle that holds together the entire city

I lived in Kurdistan for a couple years (2013 to 2017? 2018?) during the war

Are you okay?

HII 🤣 wonderful and kinda expected question

yes, im safe and okay, the country is in shambles but (at least aleppo) manages to survive, i am lucky to be able to live somewhat comfortably 🤍

Oh thank goodness you are okay! Yes that is very lucky.

I too am really glad to hear you are doing ok! Been some rough years there. It's been rough for the Kurdish people for at least over a century (The Kurds got screwed after world war 1. Should have been a Kurdish nation created at that time). Some questions I have for you...

• Is your heritage Kurdish?
• Traditional Kurdistan I believe is currently in four countries... Syria, Türkiye, Iraq, and Iran. When you were living in Kurdistan, were you living in the 'Syrian' part, the 'Türkish' part, or somewhere further east?

Hope you don't mind me posting a map to give people an idea where Aleppo and Kurdistan is located.

hello! thank you very much!

1) no, my heritage is syrian, kurdistan was simply the most fitting place to flee during the war
2) i was living in the "iraqi part" of kurdistan, in suleimaniya (if i spelled that right, i don't know how it is spelled in english) to be exact!

What are some big misconceptions that you find the Western world has about the region and what life is like?

most western people think that the entire country is all the same when it comes to being bombed and inhabitable. it actually isn't! some cities more than cities :>

With the recent news of Aleppo, I do hope you are safe and out of harm's way Anya.
Know that you are in the thoughts of many of us, and I hope you are well. (((HUG)))

thank you so much!! me and my family are safe (just frightened) and we are planning to flee once the highways are...more or less safe (i don't know if it's on the news but there are sniper's everywhere.) thank you very much for your kind message!! ((HUG))

Just saw a report on SBS News and they did mention snipers, and Russian warplanes bombing the city. You’re a brave young lady. Stay safe Anya, and keep your family safe!

Glad to hear you are ok.

Wishing you safe passage.

I wish you and your family the best

Do you practice a religion? I recall most Syrians are of the Sunni sect of Islam.

Also can you read Syriac?

yes, and I'm with the majority here, sunni muslim ♡

no, i cannot read syriac, and it isn't exactly used where i live (unless it is just a dialect of arabic? im confused, i never heard of syriac before..)

Ah that's good to know

Syriac is an Aramaic dialect so I suppose it's from a different Semitic branch that is different from Arabic.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syriac_language

ohhh thank you! thats very interesting

I hope you and your family are as well and as safe as possible, Anya. I also share a partial Syrian heritage. My paternal grandmother's family name was Maari when she was a girl. It was at a time when Lebanon was part of Greater Syria. They and my grandfather's family immigrated to Egypt for safety reasons before my grandparents met in Cairo.