The components of the Kurdistan Alliance held a press conference in Diyarbakır (Amed) on the upcoming Newroz events to be held in Turkey. The Kurdistan Alliance called on the people to attend the Newroz events and demonstrations to be held in 31 cities in Turkey.
The Kurdistan Alliance, consisting of the Democratic Society Congress (DTK), Free Women’s Movement (TJA), Democratic Regions Party (DBP), Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), Revolutionary Democratic Kurdish Association (DDKD), Human and Freedom Party (PIA), Kurdistan Communist Party (RDP), the Kurdish Democratic Platform (PDK-Bakur), Kurdistan Democratic Party in Turkey (PDK-T) and Azadi Party representatives announced a declaration for the Newroz 2021 events, Mesopotamia Agency reports.
DTK: Flare up the Newroz fire, break the isolation
Berdan Öztürk, the Co-Chair of the DTK stressed that Kurdish people are going through a historical period in their struggle in all four parts of Kurdistan.
“The more they attack, the sooner they will fall. Newroz is not just about the arrival of spring, for every ‘Dehak’ there is, there has always been a resisting ‘Kawa’ standing against them. [Editors note: Kawa and Dehak are references to the mythological Kurdish story of Newroz, where the blacksmith ‘Kawa’ struggles against the evil oppressor, ‘Dehak’.] If we are to talk about peace, we should know that there is no peace achieved without a resistance. For the Kurdish people, for the peoples of the Middle East, Newroz 2021 is significant to build the resistance. We will add fuel to the Newroz flames of resistance. We will break the isolation,” he said.
HDP: We will celebrate Newroz with great enthusiasm
Pervin Buldan, the Co-Chair of the HDP also spoke at the press conference.
“I sincerely hope that Newroz 2021 will bring peace, freedom, brotherhood and democracy to all peoples of the world. We will celebrate the 2021 Newroz amid the pandemic, at such a time when the peoples of the world need democracy, freedom and fellowship most. Last year, we did not celebrate Newroz due to the pandemic, but this year, we will celebrate Newroz with great enthusiam and we will celebrate this ancient feast of the Kurdish people and of the peoples of the Middle East taking all necessary measures to protect the health of our people,” she said.
Buldan: We hope Newroz will be an opportuniy to achieve peace and democracy
Buldan shared that she wishes Newroz to be a step towards the peace and democracy, which are the most crucial and urgent demands of the peoples of Turkey and the Middle East.
“Newroz has always been celebrated with enthusiasm on these lands. We celebrated the most meaningful Newroz in 2013, when the peace process was going on and the letter of Mister Abdullah Öcalan, his declaration that he wrote was read out live on the Newroz fields. That letter was aimed at a democratic solution of the Kurdish question, but it unfortunately it was not realised.
Nevertheless, we and the Kurdish people are still behind those words. If we are sincere in our demands for peace, democracy, fellowship of the people and freedom, then the isolation imposed on Mr. Öcalan must be lifted immediately. We believe that rather than deepening the isolation, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) should try to return to the spirit of 2013. A social peace can not be achieved by continuing to deny the identity, the language, the culture of the Kurdish people, we can only achieve peace through mutual respect to and recognition of our identities and cultures. We sincerely hope that this ancient Newroz will be an oppurtuniy to achieve this goal,” said Buldan.