Newroz
Kurdish New Year in Hastings & Turkey
On the 20th and 21st of
March the Kurds celebrate "Newroz," the beginning of the new
year. Newroz is the most important holiday for the Kurds
throughout the world. It unites the four-way divided Kurdish
homeland with the millions of their countrymen that have
emigrated. In Kurdish mythology Newroz is the day of uprising
against oppression. It is a day of hoping for a life in peace and
dignity.
The 21st of March is also the spring equinox. And so
Newroz symbolizes the victory of warmth over the cold, the good
over the bad, life over death, and joy over tragedy as well. In
Turkey Newroz was illegal until 1995, when the then Prime
Minister Tansu Ciller declared it as having been Turkish all
along. This, despite the 109 civilians who were killed by the
Turkish security service during the 1992 celebration. Today,
Newroz is more stable.
Kurdish holiday season is a time of compassion and giving. Let’s
hope that Kurds remain free from prejudice, violence, and abuse
to the point that they give all minorities in Kurdistan their
rights, so that the dominant cultures in the Middle East learn
to give the Kurdish minority their rights not only in Iraq but
also in Turkey, Iran, and Syria.
Newroz was celebrated with live music and Kurdish specialties on 21st of March 2006 6pm until late at the Marabou Restaurant, 60 Devonshire Road, Bexhill TN40 1AX, Tel: 01424 212189
Hastings Kurdish
Welfare Association is committed to helping the Kurds and other
Asylum seekers/Refugees in the East-Sussex
Area,
49 Cambridge Gardens, Hastings, East Sussex TN34 1EN Tel/ Fax:
01424-427911,
hkwa1066@yahoo.co.uk
