Newroz Celebrated Across Turkey

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Newroz has been celebrated in many provinces, including Diyarbakır, Van, Batman, Şırnak, Urfa, Manisa, Aydın.

Lisa Çalan's halay in Diyarbakır

Lisa Çalan, who lost her two legs in the bombing of an HDP rally in Diyarbakır in 2015, performed halay (a folk dance) at the square.

The Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) organized the celebrations at the Diyarbakır Newroz Park. people from the districts and villages from Diyarbakır attended the celebrations that were held under the slogan, "We will definitely win, we will break the isolation."

HDP Co-Chair Pervin Buldan called the government to lift the isolation conditions in prisons in her speech at the celebrations in Diyarbakır.

"Here is March 21, here is Newroz, here is Amed (Diyarbakır). Tayyip Erdoğan, see this square! See the outcry for peace and freedom, see the anger against the isolation. Stop playing ostrich. A resisting people screams once again from this square. Our voice reaches Ankara, the palace. If you don't hear this voice, we tell you once again that this people won't give up on peace, democracy, freedom."

Message from Leyla Güven

A message from HDP MP Leyla Güven was also read in Diyarbakır. It said, "The spring came now. I wholeheartedly celebrate your Newroz festival. Newroz pîroz be (Happy Newroz in Kurdish). We will definitely win."

People at the square chanted slogans, "Newroz pîroz be", "Leyla Güven is our honor", "Long live the prison resistance."

The 54-year-old MP has been on a hunger strike for 134 days, demanding the isolation on the Kurdistan Workers' Party's (PKK) imprisoned leader Abdullah Öcalan be lifted.

The Newroz fire was lighted by the family of Zülküf Gezen, who ended his life in the Tekirdağ Type-F Prison.

"Newroz train" canceled

The Batman-Diyarbakır train, which people use on every Newroz day to go to Diyarbakır and named "the Newroz train", was canceled today.

Celebrations at the foothills of the Van Castle

In Van province, the celebrations were held at the foothills of the Van Castle.

HDP Co-Chair Sezai Temelli said the following in Van:

"The isolation is the deadlock of the Kurdish problem. They imposed a new practice of unlawfulness and injustice each passing day. Since that day, everywhere has been isolated. This is why we say end the isolation on Mr. Öcalan. Without the isolation ending, you can't secure the justice anywhere. Now, everywhere we are present, in the places of Newroz, we revolt against the isolation by raising our voice. We don't accept the isolation."

First Newroz in Şırnak after three years

After three Newroz festivals passed with curfews in Şırnak, tens of thousands of people were at the celebration area in Silopi district.

The crowd, mostly consisting of women and youth, chanted the slogan, "We will win by resisting."

Newroz banner confiscated in Urfa

In Urfa province, the Newroz celebrations were held near the 11 Nisan Stadium. The police confiscated all the banners in Kurdish, including a banner that says, "Newroz pîroz be," on the ground that they are "banned."

The police conducted a criminal record check on most of the people who came to the celebration area. Perfumes, lighters and flags colored red and yellow were not allowed in the area.

Local singer Elif Rojda was detained during the security check by the police. Xelim Omeri, another singer, was only able to enter the area after changing his local Kurdish clothes.

Ahmet Türk's speech in Mardin

Ahmet Türk, a prominent Kurdish politician and the former mayor of the Mardin Metropolitan Municipality, addressed the crowd in Mardin. Referring to Seyid Rıza's words, he said, "We will deal with their tricks."

Eleven detained in Ağrı

After the celebrations by tens of thousands of people in Ağrı, 11 people, including singer Serhat Çarnewa was detained.

The HDP's branches in the western Aydın and Manisa provinces also organized celebrations for Newroz.

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 colored clothes and dance together.

(EMK/VK)