Muhammed Osman is one of the beneficiaries of the “Şirketim” project. Participating in the project in February, he was involved in the process of completing the necessary legal registrations of his textile workshop. Born in Bustan-Qasr, Aleppo, in 1993, Muhammed is a primary school graduate. Today, he lives with his family in Sultanbeyli, Istanbul.
In Syria, he had been operating as a tailor for his father’s shop. A short after the Syrian civil war began, he made the transition to Turkey. In the last month of 2012, he moved from Aleppo to Kilis with his family and stayed in Kilis for a while. Later, they moved to Istanbul, thinking that Istanbul was a better option for their families. Today he is married, has two children, and lives with his family. In addition, her mother lives with the family, as her father passed away because of a heart attack four years ago.
To start a new life in Turkey has never been an easy transformation in their life. He worked in several textile workshops for four years before starting his own business. However, the prevalence of informal work practice in the textile sector in Turkey was also affecting him. Work intensity was high, salaries were low, and he was working without insurance. After his father passed away, his responsibility towards his family reinforced, and he decided to establish his own business. It started out as a micro business, buying two or three machines.
After starting to operate, he operated without any registration for four years. Even though he worked for four years without legal registration, this has always been a burden on him. This made him insecure when deciding to grow their business. Even when he wanted to buy a new machine, he had to think twice because of this situation. The reason avoided him from the registration was that he could not fully know what he had to do due to a lack of Turkish language skills and knowledge over laws, and he did not have the necessary economic resources.
Until one of the project field officers visited him, he did not know about United Work or GIZ. When the field officer explained the project in detail, he liked the project very much and decided to participate. During the project process, he became happier and felt more secure at the end of every stage. Besides, he particularly appreciates United Work employees’ work. He states that they have done their job with care, and he is delighted with this situation.
The most significant contribution of the project to him was the project’s guidance on the laws. Especially when he did not know what to do, the project staff patiently guided and were able to support completing all necessary registrations. With the support of the project, he registered to the tax office and chamber, acquired E-signature, fire extinguisher, and POS device, obtained a work permit, and finally received the municipality license. After the registration process, he became more and more aware of the rules and regulations he is responsible for. In this way, thanks to the “Şirketim” project, he can now work safely and securely. Besides, he was strongly affected by the pandemic due to the decrease in exports; he faced a serious loss of income. For this reason, the economic support provided within the scope of the project was very useful for him. In this context, he appreciates everyone and every institution that has contributed to the project and wants to share his thanks.
In the future, he definitely does not think to return Syria or to leave Turkey. He is pleased with the treatment and the hospitality of the people in Turkey. In the meantime, he continues to improve his Turkish, stating that he currently has a 60% command of Turkish. In the context of these circumstances, even though the pandemic period has badly affected, his only aim for the future is to develop his business and provide his family a better life.