Күрділердің Наурыз мерекесі

Kurdish new year holiday

Newroz or Nawruz is the Kurdish celebration of Nowruz; the arrival of spring and new year in Kurdish culture. The lighting of the fires at the beginning of the evening of March 20 is the main symbol of Newroz among the Kurds. In Zoroastrianism, fire is a symbol of light, goodness and purification. Angra Mainyu, the demonic anti thesis of Ahura Mazda, 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. The Meadows of Gold by Muslim historian Masudi, the Shahnameh, a poetic opus written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi around 1000 AD, and the Sharafnameh by the medieval Kurdish historian Sherefxan Bidlisi. Zahak, who is named Zuhak by the Kurds, was an evil Assyrian king who conquered Iran and had serpents growing from his shoulders. Zahak's rule lasted for one thousand years; his evil reign caused spring to no longer come to Kurdistan. The revolt was led by Kaveh (also known as Kawa) (in the Ossetian language, Kurdalægon), a blacksmith who had lost six sons to Zahak.) were trained by Kaveh into an army that marched to Zahak's castle where Kaveh killed the king with a hammer. Kaveh is said to have then set fire to the hillsides to celebrate the victory and summon his supporters; spring returned to Kurdistan the next day. The 12th century geographer Yaqoot Hamawi mentions Zor (Zur

In the 1930s, the Kurdish poet Taufik Abdullah, wanting to instill a new Kurdish cultural revival, used a previously known, modified version of the story of Kawa.

Newroz is considered the most important festival in Kurdish culture, and is a time for entertainment such as games, dancing, family gathering, preparation of special foods and the reading of poetry. The celebration of Newroz has its local peculiarities in different regions of Kurdistan. emphasizes the identical nature of Newroz and the Armenian traditional New Year, Navasard, noting that it was only in the 11th century that Navasard came to be celebrated in late summer rather than in early spring. He states that the Newroz – Navasard “was an agricultural celebration connected with commemoration of the dead [ ] and aiming at the increase of the rain and the harvests.”1 The great center of Armenian Navasard, Ananikian points out, was Bagavan, the center of fire worship.

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 of any Kurdish expression in Turkey, the revival of the Newroz celebration has become more intense and politicized and has also become a symbol of the Kurdish resurrection. During the leadership of Prime Minister Suleyman Demirel Turkey legalized the celebration of Nevruz, spelling it "Nevruz" and claiming its origins were to be found in Central Asia. The Government was attempting to counter the rising Kurdish nationalism. though it is still widely used by Kurds. Several Turkish newspapers were prosecuted for the spelling of Newroz. 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. 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. 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; In London, organizers estimated that 25,000 people celebrated Newroz in March 2006. The Saitama prefectural parks and greenery association in the north of Tokyo, were denied Kurdish refugees permittion to hold Newroz celebrations in that city. They told The Asahi Shimbun that they were pressured by unknown people by phone and email to reject the request of the Kurds; for this reason, the association director withheld permission for the festival citing the possibility that protesters might show up and cause trouble at the park. But a little later the association on Jan. 23 retracted its decision, saying it was a mistake, and apologized to organizers of the Newroz festival.