Syrian pistachio farmer Said Ahmad stated that for three years in a row, live fire from Turkish forces is terrifying western Kobani's growers of Aleppine pistachios. 

Speaking to Al-Monitor Aug. 22, Ahmad, from the western countryside of Kobani in the eastern Aleppo governorate, said that the Turkish army is shooting at the growers to prevent them from reaching their lands in Kobani, on the Turkish-Syrian border, where their wheat and pistachio crops are languishing unharvested. Ahmad said that three days ago, the Turkish troops opened fire on his uncle in the western Kobani village of Slaim. He escaped injury but was prevented from harvesting his crop.

He said that the Turkish soldiers have fired live ammunition on the village of Ali Shar in eastern Kobani and Zor Mghawer village in western Kobani on a daily basis for years. Many families have had to abandon their orchards and other agricultural lands in the villages bordering Turkey for fear of joining the many farmers already killed.

Khalil Shikho, a pistachio farmer with 20 years of experience from the western Kobani countryside, explained to Al-Monitor that pistachio trees require a great deal of attention and care from the time they are planted until they start bearing fruit at the age of eight.