Newroz is the
traditional spring festival of the Kurds, but it has gained overt political
significance ever since the Kurdish struggle against Turkish oppression gained
the character of a mass movement in the early 1990s. This year, once again,
hundreds of thousands of people came out to celebrate Newroz in Amed
(Diyarbakir) and the other cities of Northern Kurdistan.
For the Kurdish
people in Turkey, who have been targets of the politics of annihilation and
assimilation in Turkey, Newroz has evolved as a form of resistance to counter
such state policies in Northern Kurdistan. For example, Mazlum Dogan’s suicide
to protest Turkish pressures in the Amed Prison on 21 March 1982 was taken as
the embodiment of this reconstructed myth; Mazlum Dogan was named as the
“contemporary Kawa”. Given such a meaning of resistance, Newroz has been put
into effective use in order to create counter-hegemonic struggle against the
hegemonic Turkish state policies. Newroz has served well to create a rebellious
Kurdish national unity.
Newroz serves as
a common ground for Kurdish people not only in Turkey, but also in Iran, Iraq,
Syria, Armenia, and in Diaspora. In Northern Kurdistan, Newroz continues to
signifying a separate Kurdish identity against the official discourse, and it is
still a battlefield for ideological struggle.
This year Newroz
preparations in
Amed (Diyarbakir) began with much enthusiasm on
March 13, 2008.
The DTP Newroz Committee and organizers invited people for bonfires, music and
dance every night from March 13th though March 19tth.
These invitations were the preparations for a much larger and grander Newroz
celebration, which was to be held on Friday, March 21, 2008, in a much larger
field accommodating one million people just outside Amed. Each night a location
in Amed was identified and selected to gather a group larger than 5000 people
for a bonfire, live music, dance, and chanting to countdown for the Newroz
celebration on March 21, 2008. I arrived in Amed on March 15th, due
to my busy schedule; I was lucky to witness only two of those Newroz bonfire
celebrations. The celebrations began around 7:00 pm, and continued for two or
more hours. Delegations,
as well as intellectuals, writers,
artists, unionist and representatives of NGOs arrived from various
European countries, including Germany, Italy, France, Belgium, Spain and other
countries to take part in
Newroz celebration.
I celebrated Newroz in Amed
this year among nearly 1 million people. One word that best describes the
feelings and I heard it often was "Newroz bi Cosh bu" (Newroz was powerful). The
day started by people driving, some walking, for 10 km to the outskirts of the
city, where a large field accommodated one million people (standing). The large
15-feet high stage was equipped with seven large speakers, hanging from each
side of the stage by cranes. The stage was decorated with slogans of Newroz in
Kurdish and, DTP flags.
I left my hotel around 9:00
am, accompanied by a French photo journalist, one American photo journalist, and
one American documentary film maker. We took a taxi, and asked the taxi driver
to drive us as close as possible to the field. Along the way, one could observe
a sea of people flocking the streets, some walking, some driving their autos and
buses. All were in a very celebratory mood, and most dressed in their national
Kurdish clothes, waving various flags, holding slogan signs in Kurdish, and some
in English.
The taxi dropped us off about
1 mile from the field, and we decided to walk with the sea of people for the
remainder of the way to our destination. Along the way we snapped photos, and
chatted with the people. We then came across a large line of police, and
military personnel, with large police and military vehicles, all equipped with
protective gears, shields, and very large machine guns. Some of them were
sitting on top of tanks or police vehicles, taking photos, and video-taping the
people.
At this point, I could feel
the tension; some of the police and military personnel were approaching people
to stop and question them at times. I and my colleagues were approached by
several police and, and one of them spoke to me in Turkish, I replied in
English, and notified him that I don’t speak Turkish. He then switched to
English and asked for our IDs. We provided him with our I.Ds, and tolled him the
purpose of our visit. Our names were recorded on a piece of paper. I then asked
the police politely, why he had stopped us and recorded our names? He rudely
replied: “I don’t speak English”, I reminded him, that his English was fine
earlier. How soon could he forget to speak English? Before this could become
ugly or escalate, we decided to walk on to reach the stage.
It turned out to be a big
challenge to cut through a sea of people. Thanks to the people of Amed, who were
friendly, accommodating, and very helpful to us. They assisted us to reach our
destination on the stage. On the stage, we had a very good view of the field,
packed with people, standing in all directions facing the stage, waving their
flags, and chanting slogans. The view was overwhelming; it was a view that I
have never, ever experienced or imagined in my wildest dreams.
By the time we had reached the
stage, Koma Denge Dicle u Firat, consisting of more than 15 male and female
members all dressed Kurdish-style was performing Newroz and Kurdish national
songs. Unlike previous years, I was tolled that the theme for this Newroz was to
have every organizer and speakers deliver their speeches in Kurdish and dress in
Kurdish national clothes. It is important to state that, until recent years the
Kurdish clothes were about to extinct and Kurdish language was strictly banned
by the Constitution. Limited reforms to ease the pressures of European Union
remained as token moves, and Kurdish is still not practiced in state and
educational institutions. Upon the appeal of the Ministry of Interior, the State
Council dismissed Mr. Abdullah Demirbas, the mayor of Sur district of
Diyarbakir, due to a decision to use Kurdish in delivering some municipal
services in the Sur region, where 72 % of people maintain their daily activities
in Kurdish. Mr. Demirbas is also facing court cases due to his publishing
various brochures in Kurdish, and besides Turkish, English and other languages.
There were 2 M.C.’s hosting
the Newroz celebration, a young man and a young woman, both dressed in Kurdish
clothes. They worked perfectly as a team, complimenting each other as they
resisted various Kurdish poems. They introduced speakers, performers, and always
entertained the crowd by dancing hand in hand to the tune of the music on the
stage.
The program was followed by
Mr.
Osman Baydemir, the current mayor of his home town of
Amed and member of the
Democratic Society Party
(DTP). Mr. Baydemir graduated from the Law Faculty at
Dicle University in
Diyarbakır in
1995,he became
the chair of the Diyarbakır branch of the independent Human Rights Association.
Mr. Baydemir was
dressed in a beautiful blue traditional Kurdish outfit with a white shawl--
representing peace-- hanging over his shoulders. Mr. Baydemir delivered his
powerful 17-minute speech in Kurdish with his soft and gentle voice to the
Newroz participants. He often made reference to calls for peace and democratic
processes within Turkey.
Mr. Baydemir’s speech was
followed by Koma Rewsen, a Kurdish rock group, who performed for the next half
hour or more. Then, Mrs. Leyla Zana was introduced as the next speaker. In 1991,
Mrs. Zana became the first Kurdish woman to win a seat in the Turkish
parliament. After being sworn in, she spoke a sentence in Kurdish language which
led to immediate calls for her arrest. Leyla Zana, a key figure and symbol in
the Kurdish struggle, was awarded the European Parliament’s Sakharov Award in
1995. She was dressed in beautiful Kurdish clothes, holding a red, yellow and
green scarf in her left hand, to represent the Kurdish flag. Mrs. Zana delivered
her 23-minute speech to the audience. Just like Mr. Baydemir’s speech, Mrs.
Zana’s speech was often interrupted by the crowd chanting their slogans.
Mr. Ali Asker performed
several Turkish songs with his soft and beautiful voice, and the crowd often
joined him in singing along. The current DTP parliamentary member from Mardin
province, Mr. Ahmed Turk, also dressed in brown Kurdish tirgal. Mr. Turk spoke
both in Kurdish and Turkish. Ahmet Turk himself was among the Kurdish
parliamentarians expelled from the Turkish Parliament in 1994. Thirteen years
later Ahmet Turk entered the Turkish parliament again, this time also serving as
the chair of the DTP parliamentary group.
Koma Car Newa, located in
Germany and consisting of 6 band members, some of whom non-Kurdish German
nationals, was the final music band to take the stage, and entertain the crowd
with their music and songs. Many times, the security had to stop the young
people from the crowd rushing the stage to touch, kiss or shake the hand of
their beloved Koma Car Newa lead singer.
The Newroz program ended with
the speeches of Mrs. Ayla Akat Ata and Mr. Bengi Yildiz, DTP parliamentarians of
Batman province. Ms. Akat was one of the youngest parliamentarians when she
entered the parliament in 2007. Both Akat and Yildiz were also dressed in
Kurdish clothes, and Yildiz spoke in Kurdish.
Unlike other cities of
Northern Kurdistan, Amed’s Newroz celebrated without any unfortunate incidents.
However, one could not avoid and see the F-16 Jets, military helicopters flying
very low above the crowd, trying to intimidate the people and disturb the
celebration. I can confidently state no one was intimidated, nor could they
disturb the celebration. The sound of one million people chanting Newroz
slogans, the strong voices of the brave speakers--Mr. Baydemir, Ms. Leyla Zana,
Mr. Ahmet Turk, and others --were well above the roar of the F-16 Jet engines
and propellers of the lousy military copters. I can also confidently state that
I yet have to hear from a source that any where in the world one can gather 1
million or more people for any celebration for any reason. Yes, "Newroza Amede
bi pir cosh bu." “Amed Newroz was very powerful”.
Newroz celebrations were also
powerful in Van, Siirt, Hakkari (Colemerg), Gevere, and several other places,
where our brave people wished to celebrate Newroz on their soil. However, as
Newroz celebrations were banned by Turkish authorities in these places, and as
police attacked Kurdish people who insisted on celebrating their national
holiday, celebration turned into fierce protest and Kurdish youth fought the
panzers and bullets Turkish police and army forces with stones, Molotov
cocktails and slogans. According to the news, two people were killed in Colemerg
and Gevere, and more than 30 were injured, some severely, and more than 200 were
detained by the Turkish police, and military personnel. According to the news,
some of the Italian delegation members were among the detainees.
On Monday, March 24th,
2008 a large crowd of protesters along with DTP members, and mayors, including
Mr. Osman Baydemir, gathered in front of the DTP headquarters in Diyarbakir for
a press conference. They denounced the inhumane act of killing people who
celebrate their national holiday. Following the press conference, a delegation
consisting of 45 DTP members headed to Culemerg (Hakari) and Van regions.
"Our people are brave, and
ready to sacrifice; our leaders have to have unified voices, a concept, and a
solid stance". Enough of this unilateral brotherhood calls by our leaders”.
These were some of the statements I heard over and over from the locals.
