With only a couple of days left until Newroz 2026, people from Kurdistan living in Switzerland and their friends have begun celebrations with local events. The Newroz reception held this evening in Basel marked the official start of the festivities. Many Swiss politicians attended the event.
The reception, organized by the Basel Democratic Kurdish Community Center at the KaserneHaus, was attended by a total of 27 parliamentarians, including Basel Canton Minister of Education Mustafa Atıcı, BastA Party President Oliver Bolliger, Vice President Nicola Goepfert and MP Franziska Stier, SP Basel parliamentarians Edibe Gölgeli, Mahir Kabakçı and Pascal Pfister, Greens (Grüne) Basel MP Fina Girard, as well as former parliamentary speaker and MP Bülent Pekerman from the Green Liberal Party.
The event began with an opening speech by Özen Aytaç, an activist from the Kurdish Women’s Union in Switzerland (YJK-S). Following a speech by Basel Canton Minister of Education Mustafa Atıcı, Prof. Dr. Bilgin Ayata from the University of Graz spoke about the history of Newroz.
The music group Koma Arî performed Kurdish songs during the reception. The event ended with traditional dances.
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