Demonstration ban in Hakkari ahead of Newroz
* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA)
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The Governor's Office of Kurdish-majority Hakkari province in eastern Turkey has announced that events and demonstrations such as protest marches, sit-ins, press statements, hunger strikes, setting up tents and opening stands in public places have been banned for a period of 15 days, which also covers Newroz to be celebrated on March 21, 2021.
The ban has entered into force as of 00.01 a.m. today (March 17) and will remain in effect until 23.59 p.m. on March 31, 2021.
According to the written statement published on the official website of the Hakkari Governor's Office, except for the events and demonstrations approved by the Governor's Office and sub-governor's offices, all events and demonstrations have been banned.
The ban will cover the following events and demonstrations in public places such as squares, avenues, streets, roads and parks:
"Rallies, outdoor meetings, protest marches, sit-in protests and protest demonstrations; any protest, meeting or gathering that can be held by forming human chains; any meeting, gathering, public meeting in the form of public stands; all audio and visual activities to be held with sound broadcasting devices (vehicles, mobile etc.); hunger strikes, setting up tents, press statements; all types of stands, collection of signatures, petition campaigns; all types of aerial activities such as flying sky lanterns, balloons, drones; except for public institutions and bodies, commemorative meetings, commemoration ceremonies; concerts, festivals, theater performances, skits, cinevision, pantomime and the like; all types of demonstrations, events and activities such as lighting up torches, hanging banners, posters and stickers."
The related ban has been imposed relying on the relevant provisions of the Law on Meetings and Demonstrations and the Provincial Administrative Law. Accordingly, the aforementioned events, activities and demonstrations have been banned for a period of 15 days starting from today.
About HakkariThere are 4 towns, 122 villages and 368 hamlets in Hakkari Merkez (Center), Yüksekova, Şemdinli and Çukurca. Population of city center is 239, 455 and of rural area is 97,126, amounting to 336,581. 87.6% of the city is mountainous, 10.3% is plateau, 21.% is lowland. Hakkari Governor: İdris Akbıyık Hakkari Co-Mayors: Hakkari Governor İdris Akbıyık as Cihan Karaman elected from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) has been arrested. |
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What is Newroz? Newroz refers to the celebration of the traditional Iranian peoples' New Year holiday of Nowruz in Kurdish culture. Before the Islamization of the Iranic peoples in Asia, the ancestors of the modern Kurds followed Zoroastrianism. In Zoroastrian doctrine, fire is a symbol of sight, goodness and purification. Angra Mainyu, the demonic antithesis of Zoroastrianism, was defied by Zoroastrians with a big fire every year, which symbolized their defiance of and hatred for evil and the archdemon. Newroz is mainly, in the modern age, affiliated with Kurds, who in turn make up the majority of the Alevi population, an Islamized version of the Zoroastrian religion. In Kurdish legend, the holiday celebrates the deliverance of the Kurds from a tyrant, and it is seen as another way of demonstrating support for the Kurdish cause. The celebration coincides with the March equinox which usually falls on 21 March and is usually held between 18 and 24 March. The festival has an important place in terms of Kurdish identity for the majority of Kurds, mostly in Iraq, Turkey and Syria. Though celebrations vary, people generally gather together to welcome the coming of spring; they wear coloured clothes and dance together. *Source: Wikipedia |
(TP/SD)