Shengal Autonomous Administration celebrates Newroz

“We will light the Newroz fire every year with the spirit of guerrilla resistance on the free mountains and we will embrace this culture,” said the Shengal Autonomous Administration, which does not celebrate Newroz this year to pay tribute to martyrs.

The Shengal Autonomous Administration said in a statement to mark 2023 Newroz that “Our people's resistance for an autonomous and free Shengal will continue at all costs.”

The written statement on Tuesday said: “We celebrate the Newroz festival of the Aryan people, the freedom defenders and the Yazidi people. We hope that the 2023 Newroz will bring peace, stability and unity to the people.”

The statement continued: “The people of Shengal have celebrated Newroz every year with enthusiasm under the leadership of the Shengal Autonomous Administration and expressed their message. The Autonomous Administration has decided not to celebrate this year’s Newroz, both to remember the price our people have paid in recent months and to commemorate those who lost their lives in the recent earthquakes in Rojava and North Kurdistan. However, it does not mean that our people will not celebrate the coming of new year. Our people have already celebrated Newroz by lighting fires in various places.

Our people's resistance for an autonomous and free Shengal will continue at all costs. We will light the Newroz fire every year with the spirit of guerrilla resistance on the free mountains and we will embrace this culture.”