Kurds in London celebrates Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan's birthday on Sunday. A crowded event took place in Haringey Kurdish Community Centre in North London.

Kurdish artist Rotinda was welcomed by a cheerful crowd who sang along and dance until the evening when a huge cake was offered to celebrate Öcalan's birthday on 4 April.

You say Haringey in London and you mean a small piece of Kurdistan in Europe. Shops have Kurdish, sometimes historical names, Mesopotamia, Azad, Amed, Sores… People speak hardly any English. Is like entering a different city. The Kurdish colours, green, red and yellow are everywhere. Just behind the main street in Haringey, Green Lanes, is the Kurdish Workers Association, established in 18989. Before that, not far from Haringey, in the heart of Hackney another Kurdish community centre had been established (in 1985), Halkevi.

A review of different sources and estimates indicates there are no less than 50,000 Kurds in London, of whom about 65% from Turkey and 25% from Iraq. They came mostly as refugees and asylum seekers and – though within a wide range of characteristics – are reported to hit most of the indicators for social exclusion. The migratory experience has been one of the main factors behind a shared sense of ‘Kurdish’ identity which has significantly increased since the 1970s.