TRAVERSE

THE INSIDER
I
n Kurdish, New Year’s day is called
Newroz, which means a new day. Newroz
has been celebrated as a national holiday
since 612 B.C. It is important to the Kurds
not only because it is the beginning of their new
year, but also because it marks the day that their
national existence was first recognized. It was on
this day in 612 B.C. that the ancestors of the
Kurds united to resist and rebel against the
leading great power at the time, the Assyrian
empire and constitute confederation of Median
principle. The victory against this empire
resulted in liberation for the people of this region.
This is the reason why the people of Kurdistan,
Iran and Afghanistan all celebrate Newroz, but
in their own different ways.
There is another side to Newroz. Newroz falls
on the first day of spring. Spring is a time of
transformation on Earth. After a cold and dark
winter in the mountains of Kurdistan, spring
brings warmth and new life to the land and the
people whose beliefs are bound with nature. For
those who have never seen the spring of
Kurdistan it is hard to imagine. The beauty is
indescribable.
Newroz has become an important event in
the life of the Kurdish nation. After World War
I, Kurdish borders were determined by regional
and international political powers, therefore
disuniting the Kurdish people. Today,
Kurdistan is divided into five regions which
have been occupied by Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Syria,
and the Soviet Union. Because of this, Newroz
is celebrated in five separate regions in the
middle east.
The festival is not legal in every part of
Kurdistan. This Kurdish national day was
prohibited by the Turkish government since
1923 and is one of the reasons why Kurdish
people of north-western Kurdistan demonstrate
extraordinary resistance against aggressive rules.
In Newroz 1982, one of the original founders of
the “Kurdish Worker Party and Liberation
Struggle” burned himself to death to celebrate
Newroz and salute the contemporary struggle.
This region also recognizes Mazlum Dogan, who
also burned himself, as a contemporary “Kavah”
against colonial domination. Since then, many
young men and women burn themselves to salute
and celebrate the struggle for independence on
Newroz in north western Kurdistan.
In many Newroz celebrations the main
message has been the unity of the people. In
1988, four days before Newroz, in southern
Kurdistan, over eight thousand Kurdish people
were massacred by chemical weapons. Today
many thousands of the victims still suffer from
this inhumane act by the government of Iraq.
Newroz of 1992 had a certain significance for
north-western Kurdistan, since this is a day of
“betrayal”. For the first time in seventy years, the
Turkish security force, police and army, agreed to
allow for a peaceful Newroz celebration.
However, going against their word, they attacked
the defenseless Kurdish civilians. Newroz of
1995 was no different than the last few years
since Iranian, Iraqi, and Turkish governments
still continue to terrorize Kurdish people.
Kurdish people have been recording intimidating
military build-up that has been occurring in the
middle of Kurdistan from the aggressive powers.
More and more Kurdish people believe that in
order to destroy the un-united Kurdistan the
boarders need to be changed to one boundary
not five borders.
A Chinese proverb claims that a thousand
mile journey starts with a single step. This is true
for Newroz which began as a single day in a year.
Newroz is a single step towards liberating our
people and country. In the 2607 years that have
passed, our beliefs concerning Newroz remains
the same. When we celebrate Newroz, we still
celebrate it as the New Year and as the day of
national unity and revolution that lead to liberty
for the Kurds in the past and will lead to liberty
once again in the future.
32 TRAVERSE