Newroz activities have started in Amed. Four corners of Kurdistan were greeted in Kurmancî, Soranî and Kirmançkî. Kandil, resisting cities of Kurdistan, Rojava Autonomous Region, Southern and Western Kurdistan and Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan were greeted from the stage.

The celebration activities kicked off with the singing of “Ey Raqîp”, the Kurdish national anthem. Hundreds of thousands of people stood in a minute of silence when the anthem was played. The minute of silence spread to an area of several kilometers. It was announced from the stage that the Newroz was the Newroz of autonomy and self-government.

Hafize İpek gave the opening speech representing the Preparations Committee. Stating that the Kurds want freedom, İpek said “Today the Kurds will struggle as long as they have blood moving in their bodies.” İpek greeted the arrivals as she thanked everybody who had a part in Newroz.

Amed Metropolitan Municipality Co-mayors Fırat Anlı and Gültan Kışanak took the stage afterwards with slogans of “Bijî Serok Apo”. Greeting the people in Kurdish, Anlı congratulated the attendees on their resistance.

Starting her speech with greetings to the centers of resistance, Gültan Kışanak said “We salute Mazlum Doğan who stood against tyranny with three sticks of matches in Amed Dungeons; we salute Zekiye Alkan who turned her body into the Newroz fire in the ‘90’s.” She continued; “You have dozens of lives left behind, there are those you lost. I greet each and every one of them with respect. I kiss the hands of every mother who came out today. Our hope is grand, our hope is freedom. We will build this in the future, without a doubt. It does not become us to bow down to tyranny. We represent hope and peace. We are Amed, we are Amed!” 

Stating that Öcalan’s messages could be seen to be democratic manifestos of emancipation, Kışanak said “We want to build the future together,” and ended her words with the demand for freedom.