People tear down police barriers and flock to Newroz site in Amed

Since the early hours of Monday morning, countless people have been streaming to the Newroz site in Amed (tr. Diyarbakır). The police are present with a large contingent and erected a double barrier with barbed wire in front of the stage to break the connection between participants and speakers. The images resembled those of a prison camp. The participants reacted promptly and tore down the barriers before the festival began.

Police provocations and clashes

Meanwhile, there are clashes at the police checkpoints at Newrozpark. Young people protested against the long waiting times at the checkpoints. As a result, the police used clubs, gas grenades and water cannons against them.

Police attacks also occur in other places. For example, the police also crack down on traditional Kurdish clothing. The chairman of the Azadî party, Ayetullah Aşitî, and Serdar Altan of the Dicle-Fırat journalists’ association, as well as many other journalists, were not allowed onto the grounds because they were wearing traditional Kurdish clothing. People kept shouting “Bijî Serok Apo” in the long queues. The police tried to arrest the shouters. As a result, all those present moved together in front of the police barricade and loudly shouted the criminalized slogan. The clashes on the site continued, while more and more people reached the festival site.

“The people will not let themselves be robbed of their will”

The festival square is decorated with the words “All the best for Newroz” in the Kurdish dialects, Turkish, Armenian, Arabic and English, as well as with symbols of the HDP. People dance with green-yellow-red flags. A large picture of HDP activist Deniz Poyraz, who was murdered by a Turkish fascist, hangs above the square. There are banners on the site with inscriptions such as “In the spirit of Newroz, we will win no matter what” and “The people will not be robbed of their will.”

[album=16445]