One million people attend the Newroz rally in Amed

The mass rally in the resistance stronghold of Amed (Diyarbakır) marked the historical highlight of the Newroz New Year celebrations in Kurdistan this year. The whole city, which was lit up everywhere in green, red and yellow, was on its feet. Hundreds of thousands were on the move, in the end there were a good million people on the Newroz area. “Now is the time of success”, the motto of Newroz this year with the main demand “Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan”, was visible in the masses going to the park reacting to the shelling of gas grenades and water cannons with the slogan ” Bijî Serok Apo”. Police provocations by attempting to arrest young people at countless checkpoints and on the celebration grounds failed due to verbal resistance. Newroz in Amed was once again more than just a festival. It was a demonstration of the indomitable will of a resistant people, an act of civil disobedience and, above all, a day of political struggle.

The program was rich and varied. On stage, political speeches alternated with music by artists such as Rojda, Azad Bedran, Servet Kocakaya, Kazo, as well as messages sent from prison by former HDP MP Leyla Güven and the deposed co-mayor of Amed, Adnan Selçuk Mızraklı from. The chairmen of the parties from the Kurdistan Alliance appeared on the stage together with the political veteran Ahmet Türk. The 79-year-old appealed to the political parties in Kurdistan, divided into four, to find “national unity. It is time that we came together to formulate common positions. If we really care about the Kurdish cause, we have to come to an understanding and put differences aside. History will not forgive us for behaving differently, nor will our people. It is necessary to make policies suitable for the new era, strengthen democratic forces and rally our people around common values.”

The co-chair of the grassroots coalition Democratic Society Congress (DTK), Berdan Öztürk, led his speech by saying, “The undertone of this year’s Newroz is unmistakable; It’s the time of success, it’s the time of victory. This Newroz is the celebration of Abdullah Öcalan’s freedom.”

Öztürk spoke about the phase from 2014, when the so-called destruction plan (“Çöktüre Planı”), a military and political concept of annihilation against Kurdish society and its organized structures, was initiated in Ankara and war, crises and conflicts have been unfolding ever since continue to intensify. “This is the only strategy of the rulers in Ankara. They have chosen hostility towards the Kurds as a way instead of listening to the words of Abdullah Öcalan, which said: freedom, equality, democracy and just peace. It’s not too late to stray from the wrong path and make peace with this people.”

The highlight of this year’s Newroz in Amed was the speech by HDP chairperson Pervin Buldan, who was greeted with the slogan “Bijî Serok Apo” and received thunderous applause. “Once again, it is the people of Amed who are making history on this day. Newroz is our traditional historical spring festival, which has become a political festival in resistance to oppression and colonialism. Newroz also means hope, brotherhood and courage. On this historic day you have once again defied those who do not respect your rights. This attitude, which deserves to be appreciated, is the manifest expression of the Roadmap to Democracy, Peace and Justice.”