page_title: Newroz as celebrated by Kurds
section_title: Political overtones
hierarchical_section_title: Newroz as celebrated by Kurds / Political overtones
caption_attribution_description: English: Newroz celebration in Istanbul. Photo by Bertil Videt 2006.
context_page_description: Newroz or Nawroz is the celebration of the arrival of spring and new year in Kurdish culture. It is celebrated by all Iranic peoples Before the Islamization of the Iranic peoples, they followed Zoroastrianism. In Zoroastrian doctrine, fire is a symbol of light, goodness and purification. Angra Mainyu, the demonic anti-thesis of Zoroastrianism, was defied by Zoroastrians with a big fire every year, which symbolized their defiance of and hatred for evil and the arch-demon. In Kurdish legend, the holiday celebrates the deliverance of the Kurds from a tyrant, and it is seen as another way of demonstrating support for the Kurdish cause. The celebration coincides with the March equinox which usually falls on 21 March and is usually held between 18 and 24 March. The festival has an important place in terms of Kurdish identity for the majority of Kurds, mostly in Iraq, Turkey and Syria. Though celebrations vary, people generally gather together to welcome the coming of spring; they wear coloured clothes and dance together.
context_section_description: The Kurdish association with Newroz has become increasingly pronounced since the 1950s when the Kurds in the Middle East and those in the diaspora in Europe started adopting it as a tradition. Following the persecution the Kurds suffered in Turkey, the revival of the Newroz celebration has become more intense and politicized and has also become a symbol of the Kurdish resurrection.  By the end of the 1980s, Newroz was mainly associated with the attempts to express and resurrect the Kurdish identity.
  While the Kurdish celebration has taken the form of a political expression in Turkey, most Kurdish celebrations in Iran are identical to the national festivals.  Ethnographer Mehrdad R. Izady states that the reason for this may be that the original tradition and folklore behind Newroz has been lost in the northern and western parts of Kurdistan, where it never evolved in the same way as in the southern and eastern parts. Izady further states that perhaps Newroz has just been getting better press because of the prominence that its staunchest adherents – the Kurds in the Iraqi and Iranian Kurdish regions – have been enjoying through their more frequent popular uprisings.  Thus the western and northern Kurds seem to perceive the celebration of the new year as a unifying political expression.
  In 2000, Turkey legalized the celebration of the spring holiday, spelling it "Nevruz" and claiming it as a Turkish spring holiday. Using the Kurdish spelling "Newroz" has been officially forbidden, though it is still widely used by Kurds. In the Kurdish regions of Turkey, specifically in Eastern Anatolia but also in Istanbul and Ankara where there are large Kurdish populations, people gather and jump over bonfires.  Previous to it being legalized, the PKK, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, had chosen the date of the Newroz festival to stage attacks to obtain publicity for their cause;  this led to Turkish forces detaining thousands of people who were seen as supporters of the Kurdish rebel movements. During the Newroz celebrations of 1992, more than 90 Kurdish participants were killed by the Turkish government. In 2008, two participants were killed.
  In Syria, the Kurds dress up in their national dress and celebrate the new year. According to Human Rights Watch, Syrian Kurds have had to struggle to celebrate Newroz, and in the past the celebration has led to violent oppression, leading to several deaths and mass arrests. The government has stated that the Newroz celebrations will be tolerated as long as they do not become political demonstrations of the treatment of the Kurds. During the Newroz celebrations in 2008, three Kurds were shot dead by Syrian security forces.
  Kurds in the diaspora also celebrate the new year: Kurds in Australia celebrate Newroz not only as the beginning of the new year but also as Kurdish National Day; the Kurds in Finland celebrate the new year as a way of demonstrating their support for the Kurdish cause.  In London, organizers estimated that 25,000 people celebrated Newroz in March 2006.
caption: Newroz in Istanbul
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