Newroz Piroz Be!
Illegal Newroz, Elazig, South East Turkey © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimeda 1997
Although its origins are disputed, as it’s 21 March and the traditional Kurdish New Year, I thought I’d wish any Kurdish readers Newroz Piroz Be! Although I’ve attended Newroz events among those Yezidi that consider themselves to be Kurds in Armenia, as well as the handful of Moslem Kurds that remain, I always think back on the time I spent in South East Turkey for the event.
Back then, most of the celebrations were outlawed and those attending arrested and even tortured soon after, but it would appear as though some things are changing a little in Turkey. Reuters even reports that Kurds in Istanbul displayed photographs of Ocalan although I guess they’ll have some very real problems later.
A Kurdish demonstrator displays a poster of jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan as they gathered around a bonfire to celebrate Newroz in Istanbul March 19, 2006. Kurdish people celebrate Newroz, which means “new day” in Kurdish, falls on March 21, marking the arrival of spring and is also celebrated in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, and Tajikistan. Newroz has long served as a rallying cry for Kurdish nationalism and public celebrations were illegal in Turkey until 2000, when fighting between security forces and separatist guerrillas fell sharply.
Anyway, the photos above were taken at a Newroz in Elazig (Kharpert) in 1997 as part of a series of articles that a British journalist and I were working on in Diyarbakir, Bingol, Elazig and Istanbul. We even interviewed Necati Bilican, Supreme Governor of the State of Emergency Region and Head of Turkish Police in his office in a Turkish military base in Diyarbakir.
I can still remember Bilican banging his fist on the armrest of his chair and demanding to know where I was from when he heard my [Armenian] name. Anyway, two of those articles along with some more of my photos from 1997 on the Kurdish Print Media and The Disappeared in Turkey can be found on Nick Ryan’s site.
Demanding to know where you were from? You mean in a friendly/positive way or in a “I will get you arrested” sort of way?
Comment by Freedom / Ազատութիւն — March 22, 2006 @ 11:11 pm
In a “I’m glad I’ve got a British passport” kind of way
Comment by Onnik — March 23, 2006 @ 3:37 am
Ahh, that.
Comment by Freedom / Ազատութիւն — March 23, 2006 @ 6:40 pm