Newroz celebration in İstanbul drew a crowd of over 300,000 people to Yenikapı Square

The İstanbul Newroz celebration took place on Sunday (March 17) at Yenikapı Rally Area.

The event, held under the slogan "Rabe dema azadî û serkeftinê ye / Now is the time for freedom and victory! Rise up!", was attended by Tuncer Bakırhan, Co-Chair of the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), and Esengül Demir, Co-Spokesperson of the Peoples' Democratic Congress (HDK).

The rally area was adorned with flags featuring the colors yellow, red, and green. Police set up four different search points for entry into the area. Citizens arriving at the rally area from the early hours of the morning passed through these search points before being allowed into the area.

At the search points, police also opened banners and posters to check the writings on them, while regional garments were collected separately by the police at a seperate place.

The crowd, entering the rally area with slogans, later danced the halay to the tunes of Newroz songs.

During the Newroz celebration, participants were warned not to chant slogans other than those designated by the organizing committee from the stage. However, attendees protested against this directive.

"Kurdish people have shown that they stand against Dehak like Kawa"

The Peace Mothers and the Mothers on Watch for Justice lit the fire of the 2024 İstanbul Newroz. Meral Danış Beştaş and Murat Çepni, the co-mayoral candidates for the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality from the DEM Party, also joined the mothers at the Newroz area. Following the lighting of the fire, Danış-Beştaş and Çepni took the stage, congratulating the peoples' Newroz Festival and performing the traditional horon dance.

Çepni stated, "Long live Kawa! Together, on March 31, we will succeed, and we will govern İstanbul. We are turning a deaf ear to the ongoing debates and focusing on ourselves. The DEM Party will achieve success in the strongest manner. We will give the greatest response to those who disregard our language, culture, those who subject the working class to hunger, and those who deny the Kurdish people on March 31. I greet you all with the enthusiasm of Newroz." Çepni concluded his speech with Adnan Yücel's poem "Until Earth Becomes the Face of Love."

Meral Danış Beştaş began her speech in Kurdish, then continued in Turkish. "Today, İstanbul has shown something significant. Each of you is a Kawa against Dehak. Today, you demonstrated that İstanbul is the largest city of Kurds. The Kurdish people have shown that they stand against Dehak like Kawa did, with their stance, language, history, and struggle. We are showing great resistance against the isolation and blockade imposed on our cities. If we stand by our party, we will liberate our comrades. Each of your votes will free Selahattin Demirtaş. They will free Sebahat Tuncel. They will free Figen Yüksekdağ and Gültan Kışanak. Your enthusiasm, your stance, your presence here honors us. Thank you a thousand times," she stated.  

Emel Mathlouthi concert could not take place

Tunisian singer Emel Mathlouthi, scheduled to perform on stage during Newroz, couldn't make it due to time constraints. Attendees expressed their dissatisfaction with İstanbul Governorate's decision to only permit the celebration until 17:00. The festivities concluded after the concert by Mikail Aslan.

According to information provided by the organizing committee, more than 300,000 people attended the İstanbul Newroz celebration.

The elections, spring and Karayılan’s statement

Mehmet Savur, who has been attending Newroz celebrations in İstanbul for about 10 years, commented on this year's crowd as follows:

"This year, from my observations, is much more crowded and enthusiastic. One reason for this could be the upcoming elections, but another reason is the accumulated anger of the society over the years and Karayılan's statement. It seems that Karayılan's statement has influenced the psychology, and our people have embraced it."

According to Sezer, the main reason for the enthusiastic crowd at the rally area is DEM Party's nomination of its own candidates in the West for the March 31, 2024 local elections:

"This year, it's more crowded compared to the previous year. Yes, the weather is nice, but last year we entered the elections together, whereas this year we have our own candidates. Especially the presence of our female candidate made people happy, and thanks to our candidates, our self-confidence has been restored. I believe the most important reason for this year's enthusiasm is this regained self-confidence. We feel more hopeful and excited."

Arjin, recalling the statement of Murat Karayılan, a member of the KCK Executive Council, saying, "As the Kurdish people, we are going through a very important phase. In the next few days, we will give good news to our people. We will announce our good news with a written statement," commented:

"Due to the excessive pressure on us, we were hopeless. Karayılan's statement, saying that he will give good news, revived our hopes. Especially the isolation on Öcalan and the daily arrests have tired us out. I live in İstanbul and even there,we face pressure just because we are Kurdish. Every pressure also creates its own resistance. Today, we are here against the oppression and disregard we have been facing for years."

Police detained some participants

During Newroz, more than 50 people were detained due to the intense police searches and prohibitions on slogans and banners.

A group of LGBTI+ individuals, attempting to enter the rally area, faced verbal and physical violence from a group within the crowd. Despite intervention by DEM Party officials to disperse the attacking group, the LGBTI+ individuals were forced to leave the rally area.

LGBTI+ activist and Turkey Workers' Party (TİP) Member of Parliament, İris Mozalar, stated, "As a handful of LGBTI+ individuals in the Newroz area, we were physically and verbally lynched by hundreds of people. We were punched and pelted with stones while holding children and babies in our arms. We were booed for hours."

(TY/HA/PE)