The Kurdish Democratic Council of France (CDK-F) held a large Newroz celebration in the Paris suburb of Villiers le Bel on Saturday. The celebration was dedicated to the campaign for the release of Abdullah Öcalan and a political solution to the Kurdish question.

The participants listened to speeches from Kurdish, Armenian and French politicians, as well as a message from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

The PKK, referring to the Newroz legend in which the blacksmith Kawa defeated the tyrant Dehaq and announced the good news with a bonfire, said: "We call on all people whose hearts burn for freedom to fight against the Dehaqs of today."

Artists Hozan Aydın, Mem û Zîn Botan and Ferhat Tunç performed at the celebration, as did a folk group from the Kurdish cultural movement TEV-ÇAND.

A performance by the Revolutionary Youth Movement (Tevgera Ciwanên Şoreşger), in which a replica Turkish combat drone went up in flames, was received with great enthusiasm.

A few days ago, the HPG command announced the good news of this year's Newroz, saying that the guerrillas now have a defense system against Turkey's armed drones and have shot down 15 drones in southern Kurdistan within the past year.