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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Thousands of Kurds gathered in an iconic park in southeast Turkey on Friday to celebrate Newroz, the New Year. This year’s event comes amid progress in peace negotiations between the state and Kurdish rebels.
“Today presents a great, important and historical opportunity for the unity of Kurds and the unity of other peoples. This is not exclusive to Kurds but all other nations in the Middle East. There is a need for permanent peace in the Middle East… We have named this Newroz the Newroz of peace,” Aysegul Dogan, spokesperson for the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), told Rudaw at the event in Nevruz Park, Diyarbakir (Amed).
A month earlier, Abdullah Ocalan, who founded the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in 1978 and launched a war against the Turkish state six years later, called on the PKK to disarm and disband, and take the struggle for Kurdish rights into the political sphere instead.
His historic call followed meetings between him and a DEM Party delegation. The pro-Kurdish party has conveyed Ocalan’s message to Turkish parties and Kurdistan Region officials and political leaders.
A Kurdistan Region delegation, including President Nechirvan Barzani’s representative Dilshad Shahab, attended the Newroz celebration.
“Amed Newroz has a special place in the hearts of all Kurds everywhere,” Shahab said.
“This year’s Newroz is special, taking place at a time when the peace process has seen good steps. The Kurdistan Region president, like before, emphasizes that the Kurdistan Region puts special importance on the peace process and the Kurdistan Region is ready to provide any support it can,” he added.
The Amed Newroz celebration is expected to include speeches from politicians and to feature musical performances by Kurdish singers.
Mehmet Kamac, a DEM Party lawmaker, told Rudaw that a letter from Ocalan could be read out during the event, but Dogan said there is no new message from the PKK leader.
Newroz celebrations hold particular importance for Kurds in Turkey, who for a decade were not allowed to celebrate the occasion that signals the beginning of spring and is a symbol of freedom from tyranny.
There is a long history of animosity and conflict over Kurdish issues and rights in Turkey. The state has at times gone so far as denying the very existence of Kurds. Turkey's Kurds were provided limited cultural rights when President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) came into power three decades ago.
Hundreds of thousands of people in the Kurdistan Region as well as Kurdish regions in Turkey, Iran, and Syria celebrated Newroz eve on Thursday, lighting traditional fires. In the days after Newroz, Kurds often go on picnics and light bonfires with their families and loved ones.
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