The second International Nowruz Celebrations have officially opened in Tehran in the presence of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iranian news agency Press TV reports.
The presidents of Afghanistan, Iraq, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Armenia - Hamid Karzai, Jalal Talabani, Gurbanguly Berdimuhammadov, Emomali Rahmon and Serzh Sargsyan - took part in the opening ceremony of the event at Tehran's Sa'adabad Palace on Sunday.
Indian Health Minister Omani, Foreign Minister Youssef bin Alawi bin Abdullah, Pakistani Speaker of the National Assembly Fahmida Mirza, the Kyrgyz minister of culture, the vice president of Zanzibar, the Kuwaiti special envoy and Secretary General of Economic Cooperation Organization Mohammad Yahya Maroofi are also participating in the event.
Nowruz, which coincides with the first day of spring on the solar calendar, is mostly celebrated in Iran, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, India, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan.
A blog by a Kurdish-American member, from the SLG archives:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newroz_as_celebrated_by_Kurds
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.[20] The celebration of Newroz has its local peculiarities in different regions of Kurdistan.[20] On the eve of Newroz, in southern and eastern Kurdistan, bonfires are lit. These fires symbolize the passing of the dark season, winter, and the arrival of spring, the season of light.[20]
Political overtones
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.[4] Following the persecution the Kurds suffered in Turkey, the revival of the Newroz celebration has become more intense and politicized and has also become a symbol of the Kurdish resurrection.[4] By the end of the 1980s, Newroz was mainly associated with the attempts to express and resurrect the Kurdish identity.[4]
While the Kurdish celebration has taken the form of a political expression in Turkey, most Kurdish celebrations in Iran are identical to the national festivals.[5] Izady states that the reason for this may be that the original tradition and folklore behind Newroz has been lost in the northern and western parts of Kurdistan (i.e. Turkey), where it never evolved in the same way as in the southern and eastern parts.[5] Izady further states that Newroz might have gained prominence in the northern and western parts because of the prominence of the celebrations that the staunchest Kurdish adherents of Newroz, the Iraqi and Iranian Kurds, have enjoyed through their more frequent popular uprisings.[5] Thus the western and northern Kurds seem to perceive the celebration of the new year as a unifying political expression.[5]
In 2000, Turkey legalized the celebration of the spring holiday, spelling it Nevruz and claiming it as a Turkish spring holiday.[4][21] Also, using the Kurdish spelling Newroz rathern than Nevruz, has been officially forbidden,[22] though it is still widely used by Kurds. In the Kurdish regions of the country, specifically in Eastern Anatolia, but also in Istanbul and Ankara where there is a large Kurdish population, people gather and jump over bonfires.[4] Previous to it being legalized, the PKK, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, had chosen the date of the Newroz festival to stage attacks to obtain publicity for their cause;[4] this led to Turkish forces detaining thousands of people who were seen as supporters of the Kurdish rebel movements.[23] During the Newroz celebrations of 1992, more than 50 Kurdish participants were killed by Turks. Also in 2008, two participants were killed.[24]
In Syria, the Kurds dress up in their national dress and celebrate the new year.[25] According to Human Rights Watch, the 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.[7][26] 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.[7] During the Newroz celebrations in 2008, three Kurds were shot dead by Syrian security forces.[27] [28]
Kurds in the diaspora also celebrate the new year; for example Kurds in Australia celebrate Newroz, not only as the beginning of the new year but also as the Kurdish National Day;[6] and the Kurds in Finland celebrate the new year as a way of demonstrating their support for the Kurdish cause.[29] Also in London, organizers estimated that 25000 people celebrated Newroz during March 2006.[30]
And, in the news...
________________
US President Barack Obama has signed into law a major defence bill including tough new sanctions against Iran.
The law cuts off from the US financial system foreign firms that do business with Iran's central bank.
Reuters Video: Police break up Kurds protesting air strike
Hundreds of Kurds protest death of 'separatist rebels'
By Safak Timur (AFP) – 6 hours ago
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey — Hundreds of Kurds staged a violent protest Saturday in southeastern Turkey after police said two Kurdish rebels had been killed in a gunbattle after a raid on their hideout.
The protestors demonstrated near where the two alleged members of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) died earlier in the centre of Diyarbakir, the main city of the majority Kurdish region.
Many claimed that police had "executed" the pair and then said that they were PKK rebels who had resisted.
The incident came days after the killing of 35 Kurds in an airstrike on the Iraqi border who turned out to be civilian smugglers and not rebel fighters as the military claimed.
"They were university students and they did not own any guns," said an 18-year-old protestor, contradicting local police who said the pair were rebels and two rifles and three hand grenades had been seized.
Iran refusing to fuel some European, Arab airlines - under government orders
Hormuz conflict 'unlikely to escalate'
Ron Paul has recognized the right of Israel to bomb Iran
Iranian parliament starts preparing impeachment of President Ahmadinejad
US -UAE $3.49bn defense deal
North Caucasus: Guide to a volatile region
Kurds in Turkey: arrests and violence threaten to radicalise a generation
Constanze Letsch reports on the Turkish crackdown on the country's Kurds and the cultural oppression that goes with it.
http://www.sana.sy/index_eng.html (Syrian Arab News Agency)
Happy 2012 everyone... or Persian New Year 1391 :))
Time is an abstract... enjoy, wherever you are!
And then there's this fellow, who as far as I remember is banned from this group... who says here that Kurds 'are Mossad' :
AntwortenLöschenhttp://elephantsmemory.multiply.com/journal/item/3027?mark_read=elephantsmemory:journal:3027&goto=0#reply0
Samoa skipped Friday, to be first, rather than last, to see in 2012...
AntwortenLöschenhttp://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57350216/tiny-samoa-takes-big-leap-across-date-line/
Just seen on TV... is already 2012 in some parts of the world. Beijing joined in, although Chinese New Year comes a little later; the celebrations there were without fireworks, which organisers said are 'not environmentally friendly'. Funny, considering they invented gunpowder!
AntwortenLöschenI don't have anything to offer right now. I'm at work and on my phone. Need to check on some of these websites later and don't want to forget about your informative post.
AntwortenLöschenThanks.
I'll still be awake and drinking, I expect, for those in the States who are online for midnight... thanks, J. Have a good one!
AntwortenLöschenPlan to quit stands. Got a nice organic French red. After waking up, next sleep, then no more... !
AntwortenLöschenCheers Mike, for the last time! Happy New Year!
AntwortenLöschenThis is a fascinating and germaine piece of information. Many who support Ron Paul do so because of his pledge to dismantle the US military or, at least bring it home. In the face of Obama's failure to close Guantanamo and his expansion of US military presence, Paul seems like a good choice.
AntwortenLöschenBut I see Mr. Paul has left himself an escape hatch. The US won't bomb Iran under a Paul admin, but as he recognizes the right of Israel to bomb Iran, it is a short step to seeing his aiding and abetting Israel in fighting "our" war. Good to know.
By the way, I do not believe that Rpn Paul, once in office, would actually make much of a dent in the US military. He might want to.
I quoted the wrong source; the right one is above the statement and is in Russian.
AntwortenLöschen