In the Zagros Mountains, a celebration by the HPG (People’s Defense Forces) and YJA-Star (Free Women’s Troops) commanders and guerrillas has taken place to welcome the Kurdish New Year, Newroz.

The celebration began with a military ceremony in which the HPG commander Amed Malazgirt commented on the importance of Newroz:

"Newroz is celebrated by many peoples of the Middle East. Every people celebrate it according to their own culture. For some it is just the beginning of spring, but for the people of Kurdistan it is a day of resistance. The Newroz fire was kindled in the spirit of resistance," said the HPG commander, who recalled the resistance in the notorious Amed prison following the 1980 military coup in Turkey and the current hunger strike against the isolation of Abdullah Ocalan.

Amed Malazgirt further said: "The Turkish occupation state is doing everything it can to wipe out the PKK, but it has no success. It is constantly claimed that the backbone of the PKK is broken and that the PKK is no longer capable of action. This propaganda tries to deceive the people, but nobody believes it.

True, for three to four years our movement has been attacked with very dirty and cruel methods. However, the guerrilla struggle has frustrated the propaganda of the Turkish state. The entire world can see how the militants of the PKK react to the occupiers. Now is Newroz and with the enthusiasm of the Newroz fire, the guerrillas prepare for the practice. As before, we will hold the occupiers responsible for the cruelty against our people to account. The PKK guerilla will never forget what the AKP government has done in Sur, Cizre Şırnak, Silopi and Nusaybin. We have given our word to the martyrs and the people that we will avenge the fallen. We pay a high price and we will continue to do so, but it is the PKK militants, the Kurdish people and Kurdistan that will win in the end. "