A group of internationalist comrades are currently in Bakur (north Kurdistan/southern Turkey) at the invitation of the Kurdish leftist DEM Party. Two delegations—Jin and general—will be attending Newroz celebrations, meeting with representatives of political structures and observing the upcoming municipal elections.
Newroz piroz be!
We would like to send you revolutionary greeting from the iconic Kurdish city of Amed.
Today is a big day here in Kurdistan and everyone is excited, people have been preparing for it in the last days and have been sharing a lot of music. People will get ready with the traditional dresses for the celebration and they are also very excited to have internationalist come to celebrate with them in one of their biggest celebrations. Despite the weather people will be getting together, reclaiming the Kurdish identity and self determination during this day.
Despite the heavy presence and control displayed by the Turkish state, the city is full of joy and sentiment of resistance. Cars were greeting each other in the roads while people were waving keffiyeh’s out of the car window.
A big pyre of fire receives everybody to the celebration. A symbol of the resistance and the rising of life and people. They told us how some cultures around the world celebrate Newroz as the awakening of spring and the blossoming of nature but for Kurdish people it is also a celebration of the people’s awakening to become stronger as we are also part of nature.
Newroz is celebrated everywhere!
We also spoke with a former prisoner who spent 7 years in prison because of Kurdish demonstrations. He said in prison they also celebrate Newroz, singing and chanting the traditional slogans. Prisoners also receive punishment because of that.
Nobody will stop them!
The movement was born out of the prisons. There are tens of thousands of Kurdish political prisoners. I received a better political education in prison than at university.
We hold in our minds all the comrades back home that face the punishment of the state and hegemonic powers due to the resistance they practice in their fight for a more free world. Our political prisoners are not forgotten in a land where comrades find prison their best political education through passing materials inside secretly.
On this day of celebration, a former political prisoner sends a message of solidarity to our comrades inside those walls in the UK:
No matter where the ruling hegemonic forces are in the world, oppressed people have been in constant resistance. Of course struggle have ups and downs, some periods result in victories and there are periods of defeat. But it is a fact that the truth never looses anything from its reality and this is the reality of the struggle…
Sometimes conditions can’t be the way we want them to be. But it is a fact that as long as humans exist, they will find the basic feet of resistance for themselves. We should be able to build the basic pillars of resistance. This and those persons (people in and out of prison) should be able to create hope for themselves. The common hope is the liberation of people.
Struggle is resistance.
Resistance is life.
We will resist!
Berxwedan jiyan e!
Amed 21st March 2024