‘We can celebrate Newroz thanks to the sacrifices of martyrs’

Süleyman Êdi was born in 1956 in a village in Qamishlo. He was the eldest of 6 siblings. In Damascus, where he went to work, he wanted to stage an action in front of the presidential building on Newroz Day in 1986 with a group of university students to have the Newroz celebrations legalized and to have Newroz recognized as a public holiday. He was martyred and two of his friends were injured when Baath forces opened fire on the protestors.

Süleyman’s brother, Ahmed Sofi Êdi, spoke to ANF on the occasion of Newroz and said: “We are from the Hesini tribe, we are 5 brothers and one sister. We used to live in the village. We had to move to the city due to financial difficulties. My brother Süleyman was our youngest and was working to support the family. He went to Damascus to work and stayed there for two years. He came back to the village but left again after a while. He found a job there. Back then, it was forbidden to celebrate the Newroz festival. When we took to the streets to celebrate Newroz, the state forces would attack us. So young people were arrested and never came back. When people in Damascus wanted to celebrate the Newroz, the state did not give permission. My brother Süleyman and a group of his friends went to the Presidency building to protest the ban and demanded that the Newroz festival be officially recognized. The Baath forces opened fire on the group and my brother was martyred and two young men were injured. The state did not give his body to us. After a while, they delivered it to Qamishlo by plane.

One day, they came to our house and tried to take my mother, but when she refused, they took my father to the hospital. Until then, we did not know anything about the murder of my brother. When they showed my father his dead body, my father had a heart attack. They brought my brother’s body and my father back home. They also prevented local people and relatives from attending the funeral. Dozens of students were arrested, and many people lost their jobs.”

Ferhat Êdi, Süleyman Êdi’s nephew, said that the resistance has been continuing since then: “While going to the Newroz celebrations today, we should keep one thing in mind well. For decades, our youth and people resisted in these lands, and the blood of our martyrs and heroes was spilt on every inch of Kurdistan’s land. We are alive thanks to them. Süleyman Êdi celebrated the Newroz with his own blood, and we, as his family, will continue to fight and resist until the last drop of our blood.”