Newroz Piroz Be!

[kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu]

Reply-To: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu
From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: Newroz Piroz Be!

Sender: Kurdistan Committee of Canada <kcc at magi.com>
Subject: Newroz Piroz Be!

Newroz Piroz Be!

	Every year on March 21st, the Kurdish people celebrate Newroz. In 
the Kurdish language, Newroz means "new day", by which the Kurds mean the 
first day of spring. The Kurdish calendar begins on this day. Newroz, 
therefore, is the new day, the first day of spring, the first day of the 
new year.
	The Kurdish nation has been celebrating Newroz since the time of 
ancient history. This tradition dates back to the myth of Kawa the 
Blacksmith. On March 21st in the year 612 B.C., Kawa killed the Assyrian 
tyrant Dehak and liberated the Kurds and many other peoples in the Middle 
East. Dehak was an evil king who represented cruelty, abuse, and the 
enslavement of peoples. People used to pray every day for God to help 
them to get rid of Dehak. On Newroz day, Kawa led a popular uprising and 
surrounded Dehak's palace. Kawa then rushed passed the king's guards and 
grabbed Dehak by the neck. Kawa then struck the evil tyrant on the head 
with a hammer and dragged him off his throne. With this heroic deed, Kawa 
set the people free and proclaimed freedom throughout the land. A huge 
fire was light on the mountain tops to send a message: firstly to thank 
God for helping them defeat Dehak, and secondly to the people to tell 
them they were free. This is where the tradition of the Newroz fire 
originates.
	Today, Newroz is not just a day for remembering, it is also a day 
for protest and resistance against the oppression which the Kurdish 
people continue to suffer from. Since the recent struggle for national 
liberation began, some Kurdish martyrs used their own bodies to carry the 
flames of Newroz, including Mazlum Dogan and the woman named Zekiye, who 
burned themselves to death to protest against the barbarism inflicted on 
the Kurds by the Turkish government. And last year, in 1994, Ronahi and 
Berivan burned themselves to death in Germany to protest the interior 
ministry's decision to ban the PKK/ERNK more than 30 other Kurdish 
organizations and to protest the violent attacks by German police on 
Kurdish Newroz celebrations.
	In Turkish-occupied Kurdistan, resistance actions from the 
civilian population have given the Newroz festival new life. But year 
after year, the Turkish state reacts to Kurdish cries for 
self-determination with violence and massacres. During Newroz in 1992, 
demonstrations and celebrations were attacked by the Turkish military and 
more than 100 people were killed. Shortly before Newroz in 1993, PKK 
General Secretary Abdullah Ocalan announced a unilateral cease-fire to 
initiate a political dialogue with the Ankara government and to prevent a 
repeat of the massacres in 1992. But despite this, a Newroz festival in 
Adana was attacked by the Turkish state and 4 people were killed and 54 
Kurdish villages were destroyed by Turkish bombardments.
	Newroz 1994 coincided with Ankara's attempts to hold local 
elections in the civil war provinces. But after the offices of the 
Kurdish Democracy Party (DEP) were repeatedly bombed and several DEP 
officials murdered, the DEP pulled out of the elections, although they 
surely would have won an absolute majority if the elections had been 
fair. International observer delegations reported wide-spread human 
rights violations during Newroz 1994.
	It is important that the international public recognize the 
realities of Turkish state terrorism. In the last few years, more than 
2,000 Kurdish villages have been destroyed by the Turkish military and 
more than 3 million Kurds have been forced to become refugees. And what 
about democracy in Turkey? The Kurdish DEP party MPs, who were officially 
elected to the Turkish Parliament, saw their party banned in 1994 and 
their constitutional immunity lifted. One DEP MP, Mehmet Sincar, was 
murdered. Six managed to escape to Europe. But seven others, including 
Leyla Zana, the first Kurdish woman ever elected to the Turkish 
Parliament, faced the death penalty last December in front of Turkey's 
highest court before being given jail terms as long as 15 years. What was 
their crime? They were Kurds who tried to defend the Kurdish people's 
basic democratic rights. Democracy to Turkey, however, means the 
imprisoning, torturing, and killing of journalists (in the last three 
years alone, 32 journalists and newspaper distributors have been killed 
in Turkey, the country which also has the highest number of journalists 
in prison, 74), the bombing and closure of all pro-Kurdish news agencies 
- such as Ozgur Gundem (Free Agenda) and Ozgur Ulke (Free Land), whose 
offices were completely destroyed in a bomb attack in December 1994 
before being officially banned in February 1995 - and the elimination of 
Kurdish lawyers, intellectuals, and human rights workers. All of these 
activities are sanctioned by Prime Minister Tansu Ciller. This is how 
Turkey fulfills its promise to the West to promote democracy and respect 
human rights.
	Newroz 1995 started off with bad news for the Kurdish people. The 
Canadian government announced that it plans to sell 39 CF-5 warplanes to 
Turkey, planes which will certainly be used to bomb Kurdish civilians. 
And on March 20, the day before Newroz, Turkey launched the biggest 
military operation in its history. At this moment, more than 50,000 
Turkish troops are in South Kurdistan. Turkish warplanes are bombing 
refugee camps throughout South Kurdistan, and hundreds of refugees and 
civilians have been arrested. It seems that Tansu Ciller and Iraq's 
dictator Saddam Hussein, with the support of the United States and other 
NATO countires, have made a plan to wipe out Kurdish autonomy in South 
Kurdistan and crush the Kurdish national liberation struggle. Turkey's 
invasion of South Kurdistan - an area which is supposed to be a 
UN-protected "safe haven" for Kurdish people - shows that the Turkish 
government is not interested in dialogue; they continue to insist on a 
military solution to the Kurdish question.
	At present, the world's 40 million Kurds, the largest people in 
the world without their own state, are a persecuted nation living under 
foreign occupation. The Kurdish situation today is similar to their 
situation back in the days when King Dehak enslaved the ancient Kurds. 
Saddam Hussein of Iraq is much worse than Dehak. He is carrying out 
genocide against the Kurdish people in Iraq. The army and police in 
Turkey are no better than Dehak's thugs. And officials in Iran exploit 
and enslave the people of the Kurdish regions of Iran just as Dehak's 
agents did in the past.
	Kurdistan must be free. The Kurdish people need a voice in 
international affairs. With the banning of the Democracy Party in 1994 
and the imprisonment and exile of its MPs, the Kurdish people decided to 
find a way to represent themselves. With all democratic channels and 
freedom of expression blocked in Turkey, the Kurds have decided to 
establish a Parliament of Kurdistan in Exile. This Parliament will be 
opened in Brussels, Belgium on April 12. The opening of this Parliament 
is proof that the Kurdish people want to find a peaceful and democratic 
solution to the Kurdish question.
	Let us raise the flag of freedom and justice! We cannot remain 
silent in the face of the massacres which the Kurdish people are 
suffering. Now is the time for all people to show their solidarity and 
support the national liberation struggle in Kurdistan. This struggle is 
not just for Kurdistan, it is for all humanity. No one can be free until 
we all are free.
	We are calling on everyone to celebrate Newroz according to its 
original spirit of resistance. Newroz does not just belong to the Kurdish 
people, it is a possession for all oppressed peoples and for all of 
humanity. We believe the spirit and actions of Newroz can give strength 
to all humanity to end injustice and oppression. We say "Newroz Piroz Be! 
- Happy Newroz!" to all our people and to all our friends and to all of 
humanity.

Newroz Piroz Be!
Long live the Parliament of Kurdistan in Exile!
Long live the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)!
Long live the National Liberation Front of Kurdistan (ERNK)!
Long live the People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan (ARGK)!
Long live Serok Apo!