Syrian women find peace, trade at soap workshop in Turkey

Soap workshop in border city of Mardin, Turkey helps Syrian women who fled war integrate into society and earn a living

Society 13:05 26.10.2019
Hand-in-hand with locals, Syrian women who took shelter in a Turkish border city are taking back their lives through making natural soap with support from a nonprofit group, reported Eurasia Diary citing Yeni Shafak.
 
“Friendship is universal, something human, and has nothing to do with language,” said Zainab, 40, who fled Qamishli, a town in northern Syria, amid the eight-year civil war there. (To protect their identity due to security concerns, the names of Syrian women in this article have been changed.)
 
Recalling the day she first joined the soapmakers in Turkey’s southeastern province of Mardin, Zainab told Anadolu Agency that some people in the workshop hugged her, while others showed their sympathy in other ways.
 
“Until that day, I was struggling to build relationships since I don’t know Turkish, but I saw that friendship goes beyond language,” she added, speaking in Arabic through a translator.
 
When the Syrian civil war broke out in 2011, Zainab was studying law at university. Breaking off her studies, she fled to Turkey, and took shelter in Mardin for the last eight years with her sister, leaving six other siblings behind.
 
Finding it hard to cope with her changed circumstances, she started studying at Mardin’s Artuklu University, where she is now a final-year sociology student.
 
Four months ago, an Iraqi neighbor of Zainab encouraged her to attend a soap workshop in the city center. Since then, she has been learning to make natural homemade soap in addition to building friendships with the women of Mardin and Syrian refugees like her as well as earning a living.
 
Zainab says that she wants to stay on in Mardin and serve the city where she found a safe haven during the toughest time in her life, and where now she is being educated.
 
- Turkish border towns become hub for Syrians
 
Mardin, which borders Syria, has seen a huge influx of refugees since 2011. According to Turkey’s Migration Directorate, there are 88,000 registered Syrians in Mardin, or nearly 11% of the population.
 
Turkey itself hosts the largest number of refugees worldwide, with 3.7 million people, according to UN data.
 
Zainab is only one of 182 women working in the soap workshop, half of them Mardin natives, and the other half immigrants from Syria and Iraq.
 
Like Zainab, 29-year-old Aisha also came from Qamishli in northern Syria before taking shelter in Mardin, along with her mother and brothers.
 
Aisha said when she first came to Turkey seven years ago, she didn’t know what to do with herself. After first working at a coffee shop, she later found the soap workshop through a relative.
 
“This is the place where I feel happiest and most at peace,” she said.
 
“I cheer up and build friendships here. I love being here,” she added.
 
When asked if she had learned everything about the process of soap production, she smiled, saying that her training is continuing.
 
- Workshop transforms lives
 
The soap workshop in Mardin started as a project by RET International, a humanitarian group headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland but with offices in Ankara, Turkey’s capital, which supports young people and women through education.
 
With the escalation of the refugee crisis in 2014, RET launched education programs and workshops in various Turkish provinces such as language courses and psychosocial support, with the aim of helping the refugees integrate into society and also earn a living.
 
Among these projects is the workshop in Mardin where local women learn soap-making alongside Syrian and Iraqi women, which later turned into a workplace, with women selling their soaps under a brand.
 
“Our biggest support for the women is their involvement in the production process,” said Elcin Demirel, RET’s country director.
 
“In addition, we have supported them by bringing their products to market, as well as helping with transportation and branding. And we will continue to do that.”
 
Demirel told Anadolu Agency that all the women are paid equally on an hourly basis, and their group is making no profit after paying taxes.
 
At the workshop, the women also have the opportunity to expand their horizons by taking classes in marketing, entrepreneurship, design, and social media.
 
“Our long-term goal is to ensure that this workshop becomes a cooperative where women themselves do the process of marketing, standardization, quality control and other tasks,” said Demirel.
IEPF issued a statement regarding Azerbaijani children at the UN Human Rights Council

News line

WB allocates $2M for preparation of sustainable development project in Baku
22:00 02.07.2025
Malaysia inviting Azerbaijan to participate in trade incentive program
21:45 02.07.2025
Malaysia expects further expansion of palm oil trade with Azerbaijan
21:30 02.07.2025
EBRD updates current portfolio of projects in Azerbaijan
21:30 02.07.2025
12 Georgian MPs lose parliamentary mandates
21:00 02.07.2025
Asan Jakishev: Kazakhstan strengthens status as key transit hub in region
20:40 02.07.2025
Zakharova: 'We call on Baku to take measures to return ties to level of strategic alliance'
20:30 02.07.2025
Kyrgyz ambassador to Azerbaijan also appointed as envoy to Georgia
20:20 02.07.2025
Bangladesh court sentences ex-Premier Hasina in contempt case; first conviction since ouster
20:00 02.07.2025
Russia says reduction or cessation of Western arms supplies to Ukraine brings conflict closer to its end
19:45 02.07.2025
Israeli prosecution cancels Netanyahu’s corruption trial sessions next week over US visit
19:30 02.07.2025
Mamasadyk Bakirov: Kyrgyzstan creates all necessary conditions for business
19:15 02.07.2025
Lachin holds panel session on Role of Women in Urban Development
19:00 02.07.2025
Central banks of Azerbaijan, Georgia mull implementation of systems supported by AI
18:45 02.07.2025
Azerbaijani military personnel participate in International Anatolian Eagle-2025
18:30 02.07.2025
Shavkat Mirziyoyev to open Uzbekistan park in Baku
18:15 02.07.2025
Peskov: Head of Russia's Investigative Committee, Azerbaijan's prosecutor general mull problematic issues
18:00 02.07.2025
South Korean ex-premier, minister summoned over Yoon’s martial law probe
17:45 02.07.2025
Trump says Israel has agreed to 'necessary conditions' to finalize 60-day ceasefire in Gaza
17:30 02.07.2025
DR Congo-Rwanda peace deal ‘does not address serious crimes committed in the east': Amnesty International
17:15 02.07.2025
China again urges its citizens to avoid travel to Iran
17:00 02.07.2025
Australia's Qantas says 6 million customer accounts accessed in cyber hack
16:45 02.07.2025
US accuses UN expert of ‘economic warfare’ over report on companies aiding Israeli occupation
16:30 02.07.2025
150 National Guard troops reassigned from Los Angeles security mission to wildfire response
16:00 02.07.2025
Israeli strikes kill another 29 Palestinians in Gaza Strip
15:45 02.07.2025
Revenue of China’s software industry grows by 11.2%
15:30 02.07.2025
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev’s one-on-one meeting with President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev begins
15:20 02.07.2025
Zakharova: Friendly relations between Russia, Azerbaijan extremely important
15:15 02.07.2025
President of Northern Cyprus arrives in Azerbaijan
15:00 02.07.2025
COP29 president: US withdrawal from Paris agreement won't stop global climate movement
14:45 02.07.2025
President of Uzbekistan arrives in Azerbaijan on state visit
14:30 02.07.2025
Saudi Arabia receives written message from Iran
14:15 02.07.2025
Percentage of female students studying in Azerbaijan revealed
14:00 02.07.2025
Five of Russia's neighbors withdraw from Ottawa Treaty
13:45 02.07.2025
Bahar Muradova: Azerbaijan ready to share experience in expanding women's economic rights
13:30 02.07.2025
Prosecutor General's Office: Ziyaddin Safarov died in vehicle of Russian law enforcement agencies
13:15 02.07.2025
Adviser to Uzbek FM: Relations with Azerbaijan demonstrating steady growth in all areas
13:00 02.07.2025
ECO: Significant steps should be taken to increase women's digital skills
12:45 02.07.2025
Some Russian groups want to create crisis in relations with Azerbaijan
12:30 02.07.2025
Israel-Iran ceasefire set to drive oil prices toward $60 range: Experts
12:15 02.07.2025
Hamısı