Newroz Piroz Be 2721

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Newroz 2721

Kurdish political parties in Turkey ready for Newroz celebrations despite pandemic



Several Kurdish political parties in Turkey convened on Friday and spoke of their plans for this year’s Newroz celebrations, saying coronavirus will not dampen the festivities.

Seven Kurdish parties in Turkey – known collectively as the Kurdistani Coalition - have been making preparations for this year’s Newroz celebrations to mark Kurdish New Year, which is celebrated on March 21. They revealed their plan during a press conference on Friday.

“This Newroz will be the beginning of the freedom of Kurdish people. It will also bring the unity of Kurds,” Democratic Regions Party (BDP) co-chair Keskin Bayindir told reporters, calling on Kurds to wear traditional clothing.

“We have completed our preparations,” added Bayindir, saying celebrations will be held across Kurdish cities in Turkey, especially Diyarbakir, known in Kurdish as Amed.

In Kurdish mythology, 2,721 years ago a blacksmith called Kawa overthrew an oppressive king named Zuhak and lit a fire on a hilltop as a symbol of victory. To this day, Kurds continue to light bonfires on hilltops to mark the New Year.

The coalition, an umbrella group of political parties, was formed in 2019 and ran under the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) list in that year’s provincial elections.

Tayyip Temel, a HDP lawmaker and one of the organizers of the Newroz celebration, told Rudaw’s Hevidar Zana on Friday that the low number of coronavirus cases in Turkey’s Kurdish areas has allowed for celebrations to take place, adding that preventative measures will still be taken.

He said that they have sent invitations to all political parties in the Kurdistan Region to attend the event.

Last year saw limited Newroz celebrations across the Kurdistan Region and Kurdish areas in Turkey, Syria and Iran due to the coronavirus pandemic.

It is unclear if Turkish authorities will allow the celebrations to take place exactly as planned.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iran/120320211

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First Newroz fire lit in Amed

With the words "The fire started by blacksmith Kawa is still burning today" the first Newroz fire of the year has been lit in the Kurdish province of Amed.



The Newroz Committee in Amed has lit the first fire for the New Year, kicking off this year's celebrations. For this purpose, the committee met with other people, including HDP deputies Dersim Dağ and Remziye Tosun, in the yard of the HDP branch in Kayapinar district.

Before lighting the fire, the preparatory committee made a statement. Zelal Bilgin pointed out that Newroz is also taking place this year accompanied by repression and war at home and abroad. She nevertheless wished all the peoples of Turkey a happy Newroz and said, "Newroz is a call for peace. We call on our people to prepare for Newroz and resist."

Irfan Söner, co-chair of the HDP provincial branch in Amed and also spokesman of the committee, informed about the preparations that the Newroz celebration has been applied for at the governor's office. Last year, the official celebrations were canceled due to the pandemic.

Referring to Newroz mythology, Söner said, "The fire that Kawa the Blacksmith lit is still burning today. For us, Newroz stands for peace, justice and democracy. Newroz should be celebrated by all."

Following the statement, Remziye Tosun lit the fire and those present danced around it. The celebration ended with jumps over the fire.

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Newroz fire keeps burning bright

Whether a single flickering flame or a roaring blaze, fire is enchanting. The warmth and light draw people in, mesmerising them with the sight of dancing, jumping creatures of flame that send tufts of smoke to the heavens

Fire is an important symbol in Kurdish culture. According to legend, Kurds are children of fire. King Solomon sent 500 jinns – beings created out of fire by God – on a mission: to head west and search for 500 beautiful virgin maidens. When the jinns returned, Solomon was dead. So the jinns took the maidens and settled with them in the Zagros Mountains, and from them the Kurdish nation was born

In these mountains, and beyond into Iran and central Asia, fire is used to welcome the new year on the first day of spring.

People gather around the Newroz fire to celebrate the triumph of new life as the warmth of spring takes the chill out of winter.

The story of the Kurdish Newroz fire centres on Kawa, a humble blacksmith who overthrew a tyrant to free his people. As is the case with most legends, there are multiple accounts of his story. One goes like this.

Long before Mesopotamia, there was a cruel king named Zuhak who lived in the Zagros Mountains. He had snakes growing out of his shoulders, a curse given to him by an evil spirit. The snakes fed on the brains of girls and boys. Zuhak demanded the surrounding villages sacrifice their children to feed his serpents

One day, the daughter of the blacksmith was selected for sacrifice. To save her life, Kawa killed a sheep and offered the brain of the animal to the king. The king was fooled and from then on the children were safe. They were trained as warriors as they grew up until the day they attacked King Zuhak’s castle.

At the head of their army was Kawa with his blacksmith’s hammer. He killed the king and lit a fire on the mountaintop to tell the people they were free. The king was dead, and the black shadow over their villages was lifted

Today, the town of Akre is the Kurdish capital of Newroz. Every year, hundreds of people bearing torches climb the mountain overlooking the town and light a bonfire, just as Kawa did. Similar fires are ignited across Kurdish areas in Syria, Turkey, Iraq, and Iran, signs of victory over evil the night before Newroz, March 21, the first day of spring.

People carry torches on the Akre Hill as part of the Newroz celebrations in Duhok on March 20, 2019. Photo: Bilind T. Abdullah / Rudaw

A few days before Newroz, the last Wednesday of the year, is also marked with fire. On Chwarshama Sur (Red Wednesday), people light fires and jump over them. The leap over the flame is believed to be healing, a release of evils.

Sadly, in Iran this year, three people were killed and nearly 1,900 injured in fire festival celebrations.

If someone is afraid to jump over the fire, it means he or she has sinned. But if he or she can leap over the flame, “it means they are pure,” said Aswan Qadrok, a Zoroastrian priest in Sulaimani.

This notion of a healing flame from a sacred fire draws on Zoroastrianism, an ancient faith that was dominant in Kurdish areas during pre-Islamic times and is now gaining new followers. Zoroastrians are often called fire worshippers, but that is incorrect. “We don’t worship fire. Fire is not God. We see the light of God in the fire,” said Aswan Qadrok.

There is a popular quote in the Zoroastrian faith: “I’m not going to draw my sword in darkness. Instead, I will light a candle to see who is there.”

When Zoroastrians pray, they always have a flame lit. It’s a source of warmth, light, energy, and healing.

Aswan Issam (left) and Aswan Qadrok (right) say a prayer around a fire in a Zoroastrian centre in Sulaimani on February 7, 2021. Photo: Hannah Lynch / Rudaw

Fire is used in religious traditions and held sacred across many faiths. Hanukkah is the Jewish festival of lights; in the Orthodox Christian tradition, the Holy Fire ceremony takes place on the day before Easter every year in Jerusalem; the Hindu festival of lights, Diwali, literally translates as ‘rows of lamps.’

During the Yazidi celebration of the New Year, their own Chwarshama Sur held in April, 366 candles are lit in the holy temple of Lalish, a flame for every day of the Yazidi calendar.

Flames carry the same meaning outside of formal religious settings. At memorials and vigils, people light candles as simple symbols of their thoughts and prayers, tiny flames of hope in the darkness.

In the Middle East, the holy fire can be traced back to the earliest known civilization, the Sumerians. The sacred fire is “much, much older than the Zardashti [Zoroastrians] or the Avesta [primary religious text of the Zoroastrians],” explained Hawreh Bakhawan, author of several books on Kurdish history.

He has studied clay tablets from the Sumerians that mention a sacred fire lit annually on the first of April. Bakhawan believes this is the precursor to the Newroz fire.

Though the beliefs and the myths vary, the warmth of the fire draws everyone close. “Fire is a sign of the friendship that we should keep between the people,” said Aswan Issam, a fellow Zoroastrian priest who serves alongside Aswan Qadrok.

Fire is like a sign of Kurdish co-existence

Newroz brings ALL KURDS together

We celebrate together

https://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/170320212

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Red Wednesday celebrations in Iran

At least 9 people lost their lives and nearly 1900 people were injured during the celebrations of Çarşema Sor (Red Wednesday) in Iran



The Iranian state does not officially recognize the Çarşema Sor celebrations and the Shia clergy deems it "pagan".

The National First Aid Services Spokesperson Mujtaba Halidi told AFP that "three people died during the celebrations, one in the capital," on Tuesday night.

Halidi reported that 1894 people, mostly men, were injured throughout the country.

Since February 19 death toll has risen to 9 including the recent deaths during the Çarşema Sor.

Red Wednesday celebrations, known as " Çeharşanbe Suri" in Persian or "Çarşema Sor" in Kurdish, are held on the last Wednesday before Newroz. This is also the last Wednesday of the year according to the Iranian calendar, in which the new year begins on March 21st.

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NEWROZ:

ONE FLAG

ONE PEOPLE

ONE KURDISTAN

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The words of Qazi Muhammad:

For the love of God, come, and stop being each others enemies.

Be as one and have each others' back in the face of an unfair and ruthless enemy

Don't sell yourselves cheap to the enemy.

Our enemies only want you as long as it benefits their own purposes.

The enemy will never feel compassion for you.

The enemies of the Kurds are many, they are tyrannic, ruthless and without any conscious.

The success for any people is their oneness, unity and support of their whole nation.

Any nation that does not have oneness and unity will forever be under his enemies' rule.

You as Kurds are no less than other free nations, on the contrary you are in many ways more ready than other nations that freed themselves from oppression.

But those who freed themselves had unity amongst them.

For you to be free you have to stop fighting among yourselves, stop being jealous of each other, stop selling yourself to the enemy.

Only then will you be free and free your nation

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Take to streets and squares
everywhere for Newroz

Cemil Bayık, on behalf of the Executive Council of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), called in a video message for mass participation in the resistance festival of Newroz, saying,
"Wherever our people live, they should flock to the Newroz festivals and fight against the AKP regime, just as Kawa did against the tyrant Dehak back then."

The Newroz message of the KCK Executive Council, delivered by Cemil Bayık, includes the following:

"On behalf of the Co-presidency of the KCK Executive Council, I greet you all and congratulate Rêber Apo [Abdullah Öcalan], our fighting people in all four parts of Kurdistan and abroad, in Şehid Rustem Cudi (Maxmur) Camp, in Shengal and Lavrio, in the dungeons, in the guerrilla ranks and all our friends on the occasion of Newroz. In the person of comrade Mazlum Doğan, I remember with respect all the Newroz martyrs and the martyrs of the Gare resistance. I repeat our promise to the martyrs that we will achieve freedom and democracy.

As is well known, the Third World War is taking place in the Middle East. This war has destroyed the balance of power and a new status quo has not yet been able to emerge. The Kurdish people were able to fight for many achievements from the status quo ante, which collapsed due to the war.

The people organized themselves and created new values at the same time. The Turkish occupying state realized that if it did not prevent this, very big steps towards freedom and democracy would be realized by the Kurdish people, thus ushering in the end of the murderous occupying states of capitalist modernity.

Therefore, the Turkish state launched a major assault offensive, which continues. The attacks on the Kurdish people are more severe and profound than Dehak's attacks on the people of the Middle East. The fascist AKP/MHP government wants to subject the Kurdish people to genocide through these heavy attacks.

The fascist Turkish state is the enemy of all peoples and democracy

The fascist Turkish state is the enemy of all peoples and democracy in the Middle East. So it is time to stand up in the spirit of Newroz. As we know, Dehak oppressed both the Kurds and the peoples of the Middle East in history. Kawa the Blacksmith confronted the tyrant Dehak and awakened the fire of Newroz. Through Kawa's uprising, the tyrant Dehak was defeated, and a new era began for the peoples of the Middle East.

Today, the AKP and MHP represent the tyrannical Dehak. Just like Kawa the Blacksmith who lit the fire of freedom and the contemporary Kawa, Mazlum Doğan, we must oppose fascism and continue to strengthen the struggle for democracy and freedom. I call upon our people: Wherever you may be, take to the streets and squares for the Newroz festival and light the fire there in the spirit of Kawa.

Our people have faced great oppression and cruelty throughout history. The Kurdish people have resisted persecution until today in the spirit of Newroz and, despite all the obstacles, achieved important partial victories on the road to freedom. That is why Rêber Apo says: 'The Kurdish people are the people of Newroz'.

As we know, the foundation of PKK was laid by Rêber Apo on a Newroz day. He united the Kurdish people with their history and roots. He united not only the Kurdish people but also the women with their history and roots. So he pushed the development of the Kurdish people and women. This is very important.

The Kurdish people have a responsibility because they are the people of Newroz. They must fulfill this responsibility both for themselves and for the peoples of the Middle East. They should be a guidepost for freedom in the Middle East.

Just as the Kurdish people have historically brought forth the spirit of Newroz, they should now be able to fulfill their responsibility in that spirit. Therefore, all eyes are on the Kurdish people's struggle for democracy and freedom. This is a great honor for the Kurdish people, and we live with this honor today.

The Kurdish people are even stronger and more organized today

In recent months, we have taken an important step with the 'Time for Freedom' campaign. The purpose of the campaign is to ensure the physical freedom of Rêber Apo, a Free Kurdistan and a free Middle East. We are fighting on the basis of these goals.

Thanks to the efforts and struggles of Rêber Apo and the martyrs, we have become the people of Newroz. Therefore, this year at Newroz, we are meant to take the struggle to a new level. In order to repay our debt to Rêber Apo and the martyrs, we must continue to organize and strengthen the struggle for democracy and freedom.

Of course, we are faced with obstacles, difficulties and severe attacks. But beyond that, we have more opportunities than ever before to fight for the freedom of both Rêber Apo and our people. This is also a fact. In fact, there has never been such an opportunity in the history of the Kurds. If we use this opportunity, and expand the struggle for democracy and freedom, we will achieve results.

The Kurdish people are now stronger and more experienced. The number of friends of the Kurdish people is growing day by day. Its enemies are not as strong as before. Just as we allied with neighboring peoples in Newroz history and together defeated the tyrant Dehak and created a period of freedom for ourselves and the Middle East, we can fight today.

By organizing and improving our relations with our neighbors, we will lead the fight against the Dehaks of today. If we do that, we will achieve better results than in the past. This is our duty and our responsibility.

The Kurdish women's freedom struggle has left a deep impression on the world

On March 8, Kurdish women did a great job. Kurdish women play an important role in history and in our struggle. They have been the vanguard in both the Newroz resistance and the popular uprisings. The success of this resistance is thanks to the leadership of women. They have given their color to the resistance.

Kurdish women are leading the struggle for democracy and freedom not only for the peoples of Kurdistan, but for all in the Middle East, indeed for humanity. Kurdish women's struggle for democracy and freedom has had a great impact around the world. Women around the world look to Kurdish women as pioneers. Kurdish women are influencing not only the women of the world but also the nations with their struggle.

It is thanks to the struggle developed by Kurdish women that today all over the world women, young people, socialists who fight against fascism and for democracy and freedom refer to the Kurdish people and Kurdish women.

This is a great honor for both Kurdish women and the Kurdish community. The struggle developed by Kurdish women will continue until Rêber Apo, the peoples of Kurdistan and the Middle East are liberated. Women will become even more prominent in the current campaign.

Newroz in the spirit of resistance by the Gare martyrs

As is known, the fascist Turkish state has carried out a massive attack on the Gare area. Through this attack, it wanted to hit the headquarters of the movement. Against these attacks, the HPG guerrilla developed a legendary resistance.

The martyrs of Gare resisted the attack of the Turkish state in the spirit of Newroz. They dealt a heavy blow to the enemy and foiled an invasion. The Turkish state not only failed to achieve its goal but took a much bigger blow.

We must make the spirit of the martyrs of Gare our foundation. This resistance has had a great impact on our people in the four parts of Kurdistan as well as abroad and has increased their determination.

We can build great results on this situation. If we fight in the spirit of Newroz, then we can achieve even greater results in the struggle for democracy and freedom. Just as Kawa the Blacksmith lit his fire on Newroz and the Kurdish people, together with the rest of the peoples of the Middle East, ended the oppression of the tyrant Dehaq, the martyrs of Gare fueled this fire through their victory.

We must take to the squares and streets in this spirit. From now on, we march to freedom in the spirit of Newroz

This is the spirit of democracy and freedom, it does not accept occupation, slavery and oppression. We will be victorious. Long live the spirit of Newroz, long live Newroz, bijî Serok Apo, long live our struggle for democracy and freedom. I wish everyone the best and congratulate you once again on the Newroz festival."

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Lighting fires allowed
but no parties to be held

Lighting Newroz fires will be allowed in the Kurdistan Region, officials have told Rudaw, but large gatherings will not be permitted due to the spread of coronavirus



“No lockdown has been announced this year as opposed to last year, but no party will be held,” Majid Said Salih, Duhok’s deputy governor told Rudaw on Wednesday.

“This year, despite taking preventative measures and adhering to the health ministry’s guidelines, lighting Newroz fires are allowed, but crowds and parties are not allowed, and lighting fires should be in accordance with health and environmental guidelines,” added Salih.

No party will be held in Akre but there will be fireworks and the traditional fire will be lit, its mayor Mazin Mohammed Said told Rudaw on Sunday.

Akre, known as the capital of Newroz, lights huge fires atop the town’s surrounding mountains on the Kurdish New Year and people march up the hill with torches.

This year around 200 torches have been readied for the day to be carried up a hill where a 60-meter flag of Kurdistan will be displayed, Polis Ali Said, one of the volunteers preparing the torches told Rudaw on Sunday.

Sulaimani governor Haval Abubakir has said lighting Newroz fires is allowed in the province, but only in specific places. Parties and “crowded gatherings” are not allowed, but families can have picnics and go into nature.

Last Newroz saw a total lockdown in place after the Kurdistan Region recorded its first cases of the coronavirus at the beginning of March.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) health ministry announced on Wednesday that it had recorded 541 new cases of the virus in 24 hours - its highest single day case total in months.

Iraq also recorded its highest-ever single day total of coronavirus cases on Wednesday, according to health ministry data, with 5,663 cases recorded in 24 hours.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/18032021

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UN chief in Iraq shares
Newroz message of hope

The head of the United Nations mission in Iraq (UNAMI) shared a Newroz message of hope after a “bleak year” marked by the global pandemic and political strife in Iraq

“Nowruz, the celebration of renewal of life and harmony, arrives with the advent of Spring, bringing new hope after a bleak year,” read the message from UNAMI chief Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert.

She noted that the COVID-19 pandemic “continues to ravage countries across the globe,” but drew hope from the worldwide vaccination campaign and the message of peace brought to Iraq by Pope Francis during his historic visit this month.

“This renewed hope is to be embraced as we strive towards a better future. With sufficient political will, a spirit of national unity and genuine determination, solutions can and must be reached,” said Hennis-Plasschaert.

Iraq and the Kurdistan Region are seeing a second wave of coronavirus infections, expected to be more deadly with the spread of new variants. Iraq has recorded a total of 789,390 cases, 115,210 of them within the Kurdistan Region.

Anti-government demonstrations are still regularly taking place in cities in central and southern Iraq, though in smaller numbers compared to when the protest movement began in October 2019. The protests are still being met with violence.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/20032021

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Akre locals prepare for Newroz festivities

Rizgar Hassan has spent the last twenty days fashioning torches in preparation for Newroz

The head of Kala Kavin (the old mountain) group in the town of Akre, he alongside two hundred others mark the Kurdish new year annually by taking to the mountains carrying hundreds of torches.

“We mix kerosene and diesel and put these torches into it for more than an hour. When it gets dark, we light our torches one by one and start walking down the mountain in a single row,” said Hassan.

While coronavirus protection measures have forbidden large gatherings, the government has allowed the fire carriers to usher in the new year.

“We have informed people on social media and local TV channels not to gather. And watch the traditional fire festival on TV and social media. We won’t allow gathering in any forms,” Kawa Zuheir, the director of Akre’s culture directorate.

Hundreds of tourists have nonetheless headed to the town, known as the Newroz capital, for the holiday.

“I have been in the Netherlands for 20 years. It’s the first time I have come back for Newroz,” said Haval Akreyi. “Newroz in Akre is very different from those of other cities of Kurdistan. It’s a nice feeling for me to see the Kurdish flag.”

Link to Article - Video:

https://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/20032021

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Newroz means life

The PKK and PAJK prisoners in Turkey declare that they will continue the hunger strike against isolation with the enthusiasm of Newroz and will not make any concessions in their resistance against fascism

On behalf of the PKK and PAJK members imprisoned in Turkey, Deniz Kaya has issued a statement on Newroz reaffirming the determination of the prisoners on hunger strike. Kaya said that Newroz is a day of affirmation of life and resistance, the beginning of spring and the awakening of all living beings with their differences. March 21, he said, heralds spring and at the same time has become a nightmare of rulers excluded from social life.

"Referring to the meaning and importance of this day, we, as PKK and PAJK prisoners in the dungeons in Kurdistan and Turkey, on the 2633rd anniversary of the resistance festival of Newroz, wish especially Rêber Apo [Abdullah Öcalan], who is making an incomparable resistance in Imrali, our heroic martyrs, all peoples who are fighting against the oppression of fascism in the mountains, valleys and cities, a happy festival."

Throughout history, there has always been resistance to despots who have tried to keep themselves on their feet through their policies of oppression, the statement continued. Newroz is the most beautiful social expression of this resistance, it said, because with the mythological victory of Kawa the Blacksmith over despot Dehak, people have been inculcated that they can govern themselves and win through unity.

Regarding the hunger strike, Deniz Kaya said: "As prisoners from the PKK and PAJK, we declare that we continue the hunger strike that we have been carrying out since November 27 with the enthusiasm of Newroz and do not make any concessions in our resistance against fascism.

We celebrate Newroz in the atmosphere created by the victory against the fascist and murderous occupation in Gare and by the resistance dances of the women on March 8. We inform that in the dungeons, we too, together with our people, are focusing with increased enthusiasm on the unconditional success of our freedom campaign.

While our resistance continues in an organized and planned form, we call upon all democratic, intellectual and patriotic people to raise their voices on Newroz and resist fascism in order to take an even stronger stance against the policy of annihilation and to ensure the lifting of isolation and the physical freedom of Rêber Apo."

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People detained in Amed suffer torture

One-year-old child detained and a disabled youth tortured in Amed. A total of 63 people were taken into custody, 24 are still held at the police station

The people detained during the Newroz celebration in Amed were tortured physically and psychologically. Among those detained is even a one-year-old toddler who was being held with his mother.

Today, 63 people were detained for wearing yellow-red-green shawls and scarves at the entrance gates of the area during the Newroz celebration in Amed. While 39 people were released, 24 people are still being held in the Political Branch of the Diyarbakır Police Department.

According to information obtained from the people who have been released, a one-year-old toddler was detained with his mother. It was also learned that there were two more children, 3 and 5 years old, whose mothers were detained. In addition, V. Ş. (12), M. Ş. (11) and R.K. whose age was not learned were also taken into custody and released on the condition that their statements were taken by the prosecutor during the week.

It is stated that among those who were tortured and insulted will being brought to the police, was a 26-year-old youth with 76% disability. It was also learned that the young man, who suffered two crises, was tied with a rope by the police and his head was hit against the wall many times.

Updated name list of detainees: Dilan Çelik, Ayhan Seven, Dilşah Aba, Aynur Kaya, Dilan Yıldız, Bedirhan Güçmez, Gurbet Tarhan, Mülkiye Ozan, Şükran Kader, Cahide Bakırhan, Ömer Üstündal, Welat Zenol, Murat Kertay, Eylem Okuşu, Hanife Yılmaz , Hilal Ekin, Sibel Yüksel Demirel, Gürsel Kocaağa, Emine Nazlı, Yusuf Topkaya, Mehmet Salih Kocadağ, Yusuf Zengin, Ömer Kaya and Hastın Ahmet.

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Massive Newroz celebration in Van

One of the biggest Newroz celebrations in recent years is taking place in Van. The mood is lively and combative

In Van province, one of the largest Newroz celebrations in recent years is taking place despite systematic repression. Since early morning, tens of thousands of people have arrived at the square below the fortress. The celebration runs under the slogan "Let's resist with the Newroz fire, let's liberate ourselves!".

The participants wear traditional clothes and flags of the HDP. One banner reads: "The more fascist you become, the more rebellious we become". The slogan "Bijî Rêber Apo" [Long Live Leader Öcalan] is heard again and again.

The official program began with a minute of silence, which was again followed by slogans for Abdullah Öcalan. On behalf of the organizers, Sedat Düşünmez welcomed the crowd and expressed his wish that Newroz would be an occasion for peace and freedom.

In a speech, Fikret Doğan, co-chair of the HDP provincial association, drew attention to the attacks against the people and their elected representatives. "The political prisoners continue their hunger strike so that the isolation is lifted and the Kurdish issue is solved through democratic and peaceful methods. The illegal action against the prisoners and especially the isolation of Abdullah Öcalan, which is actually applied to the whole society, must be lifted immediately," said the HDP politician at the start of the event.

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People celebrate Newroz
across North-East Syria

This year, the New Year's festival Newroz in the liberated areas of northern and eastern Syria has the motto "Defeat the occupation in the spirit of resistance of Newroz". Everywhere in the autonomous region, the flames of Newroz have been blazing since early morning. People make the leap over the fire to leave the old behind and embrace the new beginning

Kobanê

In Kobanê, people celebrate Newroz in a square in the west of the canton. Thousands of people, members of the Kurdish, Arab and Christian communities, have gathered to start the new year together.

The women with their traditional dresses are symbolic of Western Kurdistan's diverse mosaic society. More than a thousand members of the internal security, who have been at their posts since the night before, protect the crowd.

The stage program is organized by the Baqî Xido Cultural Center. Several music bands, theater and dance groups, singers have performed. There have also been numerous political speeches.

Girkê Legê

In Girkê Legê, the Newroz fire was lit by mothers of the martyrs.

Dêrik

The Newroz flames are also blazing in Dêrik where thousands of people have gathered there near the Borzê dam.

Dirbêsiyê

In Dirbêsiyê also thousands of people celebrate the New Year.

Tirbespiyê

Masses are celebrating Newroz also in Tirbespiyê.

Hesekê

In Hesekê it was also mothers of fallen fighters of the Rojava Kurdistani revolution who lit the Newroz fire.

Qamishlo

In Qamişlo, thousands of people accompanied the lighting of the Newroz fire with the slogans "Long live the resistance of Gare and Ain Issa" and "No life without Öcalan".

Amûdê

In Amûdê, thousands of people gathered in the town of Çaxir Bazar on the M4 highway to celebrate Newroz.

Aleppo

Newroz is also being celebrated in Aleppo, specifically in the Kurdish resistance district of Sheikh Maqsoud (Şêxmeqsud). Political speeches have already been delivered by Fehima Silêman on behalf of Kongreya Star, Muri Shibil from the local branch of the Syrian Democratic Council (MSD), and the co-chair of the PYD, Eyşê Hiso. Music was provided by Kulilkên Pêşerojê, Agirî and Çiyayê Hawarê, and the program also included performances by several folklore groups and a theater performance.