The declaration on this year’s Newroz (March 21) was presented at a press conference in Istanbul with the participation of
the Co-Spokespersons of the Peoples’ Democratic Congress (HDK), Meral Danış Beştaş and Ali Kenanoğlu; the Co-Chair of the DEM Party, Tülay Hatimoğulları; spokespersons of the Social Freedom Party (TÖP), Pelin Kahiloğulları and Juliana Gözen; the Chair of the Labor Movement Party (EHP), Hakan Öztürk; the Co-Chair of the Socialist Refoundation Party (SYKP), Feray Mertoğlu; and many representatives of political parties and civil society organizations.
At the meeting, the Turkish version of the Newroz declaration was read by HDK Co-Spokesperson Meral Danış Beştaş, while the Kurdish version was read by DEM Party Şırnak MP Newroz Uysal Aslan.
The statement said: “We call on all forces of struggle for labor, democracy, freedom and peace to gather in the Newroz squares—to expand hope, strengthen solidarity and ignite the fire of freedom.”
The will of rebirth
The declaration reads as follows:
“We welcome the Newroz of 21 March—the symbol of awakening and renewal—this year with the slogan ‘Newroz of Freedom and Democracy.’ Newroz represents the light against darkness, resistance against oppression, existence against denial, the struggle for a dignified and just life against exploitation, and the organized will of rebirth against despair. As the shared cultural memory of peoples, Newroz carries the historical consciousness of the oppressed—their march for freedom, their search for justice and their determination to live with dignity—into the present.
Throughout history, peoples who resisted oppression, exploitation, denial and assimilation organized themselves around the Newroz fire; they defended their identity, culture and beliefs, strengthened their solidarity and sustained their march for freedom. The fire of Newroz has become the universal echo of the existence and voice of those oppressed, those denied and those who are sought to be silenced. This historical legacy has established the continuity of resistance and transformed hope into a social force.
Newroz embodies the culture of resistance
Today we welcome Newroz with the determination to expand the call for Peace and Democratic Society and the goal of building a democratic, socialist and communal society. Newroz strengthens the will to establish a social order in which the peoples’ right to live is guaranteed, their will is recognized, democratic law functions, and freedom of expression and organization is institutionalized.
This year we will again take to the Newroz squares with the awareness and determination that it is only through common struggle and resistance that our differences—our identities, languages, beliefs and cultures—can exist freely and equally, and that life can be built on equal and democratic foundations.
The culture of resistance embodied by Newroz demonstrates through historical experience that freedom and democracy are built through the peoples’ own strength, solidarity, organized struggle and organized society. The only path and guarantee of the struggle for labor, freedom and democracy—carried forward at great cost—is the leadership of women, the dynamism of youth, the resistance of workers and the solidarity of peoples.
The final report fell far short of meeting the expectations
In this context, the historic Peace and Democratic Society Process initiated by Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan on 27 February 2025 has completed its first year. Abdullah Öcalan and his movement have fulfilled the political steps required of them for the progress of the process. Following Mr. Öcalan’s historic call, the steps taken by his movement have strengthened the will to establish an equal and shared life among peoples and, by growing in the squares with the organized power of the people, have revealed the potential to produce political outcomes.
Although the establishment of a Commission within parliament by the state during this process was significant, the final report that was announced fell far short of meeting the expectations of the Kurdish people, the oppressed and the democratic public, as well as the minimum conditions for a solution. The fact that the Kurdish question was not even named was unfortunate, demonstrating that parliament and politics—institutions responsible for resolving problems—failed to show the necessary courage and avoided taking responsibility for resolving the Kurdish question.
Freedom and free working conditions for Öcalan are urgent requirements
For the development of a democratic solution, the establishment of peace and the advancement of the process to the stage of positive integration, ensuring the physical freedom of Mr. Öcalan and creating conditions for him to work freely are urgent and necessary requirements. As the process moves to its second phase, implementing the principle of hope and creating equal negotiation conditions is an essential requirement for its progress. In this context, despite all its shortcomings, it has become essential that the proposals regarding democratization in the parliamentary commission’s report be implemented as soon as possible and that the necessary legal and constitutional arrangements appropriate to the second phase of the process be urgently enacted.
As women become free, society will become free
The goal of Peace and Democratic Society is not only a political demand but also a process of social construction. For us, this process represents building a society in which differences are accepted as richness, local self-governance is strengthened, women’s freedom is embraced as a fundamental principle, and life is organized in harmony with nature. As democratic society and communal life develop, peace can become lasting, equality can be guaranteed and a shared life can be built. As women become free, society will become free; as labor exploitation and the plunder of nature decline, justice will gain strength.
Millions will voice their demands
Despite repression and bans, Newroz has grown through the will of the peoples. This historical will that has reached today will continue to serve as the foundation for building and advancing a democratic and free society with the same determination. The fire of Newroz, as in the past, will appear in the squares as a social consciousness that expands resistance and strengthens the responsibility to build the shared life of the future. Millions to fill the squares this year will voice their demands for democracy, labor, freedom and equality in the strongest terms and turn them into a promise to develop a democratic society and communal life. Newroz will express the determination of our peoples to build justice, freedom of thought and expression, political pluralism and social equality through their own strength and struggle.
The constructive and founding power of democratic society
Women, the bearers of an endless struggle against the male-dominated mentality and system, are leading the democratic and communal society today through the women’s freedom struggle brought to life by the resistance of Rahşan, Ronahî, Zekiye, Bêrivan, Kader, Ivana and many others. Today the will for women’s freedom has become the slogan of women around the world through the philosophy of ‘Jin, Jiyan, Azadî,’ universalizing itself even in a braid of hair and heralding a new life for humanity. This struggle rising against male domination, war policies and the misogynistic system will gather in the Newroz squares as the constructive and founding power of democratic society.
Call to ignite the fire of freedom
Today’s world is passing through a time in which imperialist colonial aggression and hegemonic domination seek to subjugate the oppressed peoples of the world through wars, occupations, massacres and genocides, while exposing our planet to the reckless and ruthless destruction of humanity’s social and cultural heritage and nature itself. The Middle East once again stands at the very heart of this bloody and cursed mechanism.
What is unfolding in Palestine, Syria and now Iran, as well as in Ukraine and Venezuela, are precisely the steps and stages of this deadly imperialist–Zionist plan. What is under threat on our planet is life itself and the future of humanity.
For this very reason, the great Kurdish national resistance embodied in the defense of Rojava and the acts of international solidarity have become the will and global symbol of the determination to defend human dignity, nature and the future, and to live and sustain freedom. This is precisely the spirit of Newroz that will guide us.
We call on women, youth, workers, laborers, artists, intellectuals, all peoples and faith communities—all forces of struggle for labor, democracy, freedom and peace—to gather in the Newroz squares, to expand hope, strengthen solidarity and ignite the fire of freedom.”
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