Newroz fires, to be celebrated this year under the slogans “Newroza Azadî û Yekîtiya Demokratîk” and “Newroz of Freedom and Democracy,” have begun to be lit across many centers. In Diyarbakır (Amed), where the first fire was lit on the city walls, the main celebration will take place on 21 March. Beyond the central events, villagers are once again eagerly awaiting the night of 20 March.
Villagers who continue to celebrate with the same spirit as in the past collect tires and carry them to the mountains near their villages on the evening of 20 March, where they light the fires and celebrate Newroz together. From young to old, they gather around the flames and dance halay (a traditional Kurdish and Anatolian line dance performed in groups). Despite all the pressures, restrictions, and displacement policies they have faced, villagers who have neither abandoned their lands nor their traditions are preparing to light the fire this year with the same excitement and hope.
Tires ready in the villages
One of these villages is Duru in Lice, known for its long history of Newroz celebrations. Villagers, who gather tires in one part of the village, climb the same mountain every year with the same excitement as they have for the past 40 years and light their fires.
They said that even during the dark and oppressive period of the 1990s, they maintained the same spirit, and today they are once again preparing to light the fire with hope for peace. According to the villagers, Newroz traditions have been passed down to every generation, and even the youngest children await the arrival of spring with excitement for the fire. Despite their small population, the residents have not abandoned their land and continue to pass on Newroz songs and traditions to others.
The Newroz fire has never been extinguished within her
One of those who has carried this excitement from her youth to the present is 70-year-old Rahime Maçin. Having grown up with Newroz in the land where she was born, Maçin has never left the fire and is one of the most important witnesses both to Newroz and to the village.
Around the Newroz fire, she witnessed torture, enforced disappearances, village burnings, and massacres. Despite the years that have passed and her health problems, she continues to take part every year in the Newroz celebration held on the same day and in the same place. Maçin, who dances halay with her cane and sings songs, said, “I have followed this fire for years, and I know well that this path is our path.”
They burned the village and disappeared three people
Rahime Maçin, who was born in this village, lost both her village and members of her family in 1994, when Newroz celebrations were carried out under the heaviest repression and restrictions. During that period, when village burnings were widespread, her brothers Tahsin Çiçek and Ali İhsan Çiçek were taken into custody by soldiers who came to the village in May 1994. After their detention, they were never heard from again, and Çayan Çiçek was also forcibly disappeared in the same period. The three disappeared under unknown circumstances. Believing they could intimidate the population through these detentions, soldiers repeatedly burned and destroyed the village during the same period. Each night the village was demolished, and each morning it was rebuilt by its residents. Eventually, after leaving no stone upon another, the soldiers forced the villagers into displacement. Despite this, some families remained, and those who had left returned to the village after a short time.
The tradition has never been broken
Rahime Maçin described those days by saying, “They would destroy it at night, and we would rebuild it in the morning,” and added that the Newroz celebrations of that time carried a deeper meaning and value. She said that while their village was being burned, they continued to light Newroz fires and refused to submit, and that today the same tradition is carried on by her grandchildren. Maçin stated that every year she goes to the same place with the same excitement and hopes to light the fire and dance halay.
Maçin said: “I have not forgotten a single moment since the first Newroz I celebrated. We would light fires all over the mountain, dance around them, and stay there until the fire went out before returning home. It was about 40 years ago. Since then, we have celebrated every year. We lit this fire with joy and happiness. Each year was more crowded and more enthusiastic than the last. The spirit of those days was very different. Even if people had nothing, they would bring the clothes they were wearing and throw them into the fire. Every moment and every word carried its own meaning.”
They tried to burn our villages with the fire of Newroz
Rahime Maçin said that over the years their village was subjected to intense pressure through repeated burnings and that even Newroz celebrations were targeted for suppression. Maçin said: “They would come in the morning and destroy everything, and in the evening we would rebuild our homes with just two pieces of wood and continue to live in the village. They burned our village not once, but many times. Every time we lit the Newroz fire, they tried to intervene and extinguish it, but out of fear they could not enter the village. The more they tried to prevent us, the more we carried wood on our backs and went up to the mountains to celebrate Newroz. When they came again and burned our village once more, we were forced to leave. We stayed in Diyarbakır for five years, and we continued to take part in every Newroz celebration there. They tried to extinguish the fires burning in the mountains and to burn down our villages, but they did not succeed. Every year, that fire burns again.”
Let us light the newroz fire for peace and freedom
Despite her advancing age, Maçin said she still goes to the Newroz grounds with the same hope and excitement: “Years have passed, but I still dance halay around that fire. That fire reminds me of the arrival of spring. When I sing songs around it, I feel very good. I know well that this path is our path. Even if I am alone, I celebrate Newroz on my own. Not a single year have I missed it. This Newroz, let us light the Newroz fire with peace. We have struggled for peace for years. Two of my brothers were victims of unsolved killings, and our village was burned many times. This year, let us go to the squares with the call for peace. Let the fire they could not extinguish burn even stronger.”