DIYARBAKIR
Turkey’s Kurds celebrated the Nowruz festival on Friday, as political deputies lit a torch in the southeastern Kurdish-majority province of Diyarbakir.
Nowruz, which means ‘new day’ in Kurdish, is a traditional holiday celebrated in the Middle East and Central Asia.
In Turkey, the holiday is celebrated by Kurds who light traditional fires and dance. Women wear dresses and headscarves while men carry flags in colors of green, yellow and red.
Pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) co-chairman Ertugrul Kurkcu said, “What brings us all together on this beautiful and great day is our love for freedom.”
Kurdish organizations and pro-Kurdish parties in Turkey usually organize the traditional holiday, which marks the first day of spring.
Pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) co-chairman Gultan Kisanak also celebrated Nowruz during a speech delivered in Kurdish.
‘’Nowruz is fire, freedom and peace,’’ Kisanak said, wishing people a happy Nowruz.
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