The Co-Presidency of the KCK (Kurdistan Communities Union) Executive Council released a statement regarding the celebrations marking the traditional Kurdish spring and resistance festival Newroz.

The KCK statement on Sunday includes the following:

“Newroz is of immense importance to the people of Kurdistan, and the celebrations express the will of the people every year. This year’s Newroz celebrations went down in history as great social-political actions, with a participation exceeding the previous years, marking a pinnacle. The Kurdish people celebrated Newroz with great enthusiasm in the four parts of Kurdistan and all over the world, singing traditional folk songs and dancing traditional dances. Millions of people flooded the squares to celebrate Newroz and chant slogans of freedom. The Kurdish people brought Newroz to a new peak, thus frustrated all kinds of attacks, conspiracies and games on them and clearly demonstrated their will. We heartily congratulate our people on the occasion of Newroz and salute their resilient stance.

This year’s Newroz passed with great enthusiasm and participation in the four parts of Kurdistan. The people of northern Kurdistan took to the fields in millions and celebrated Newroz from Serhat to Dersim, from Botan to the Euphrates. The Newroz celebrations in Amed were the peak of this. Also, the people of eastern Kurdistan showed participation that surpassed previous periods. The spirit of the ‘Jin Jiyan Azadi’ spirit was dominant in the celebrations. Newroz was celebrated with full splendor. Again, in Rojava, the spirit and enthusiasm of the revolution were reflected in the celebrations of Newroz. The attitude and determination of resistance made this year’s Newroz in Rojava more glorious than ever. The people of southern Kurdistan also celebrated Newroz with enthusiasm, above all in the Qendil mountains. In all celebrations, the demand of the physical freedom of Rêber Apo [Leader Abdullah Öcalan] was at the center, as was the embracement for his call for ‘Peace and Democratic Society’. The struggle for the freedom of Rêber Apo and patriotism prevailed in Newroz, and the Kurdish people expressed their longing for national unity and freedom.

The Newroz celebrations are still continuing in many places, especially abroad. Just like in Kurdistan, our people abroad are celebrating Newroz with great enthusiasm. We also celebrate the Newroz of our people and international friends abroad, who also show great enthusiasm, and longing for a free country with a free leader.

Undoubtedly, what made this year’s Newroz so meaningful and historic was Rêber Apo’s historic call for ‘Peace and Democratic Society’. In the way of celebrating Newroz, the Kurdish people gave a strong response to this historic call. With the slogan “Free Leader, Democratic Society”, the Kurdish people made it clear without a shadow of a doubt that they embraced Rêber Apo’s historic call. Taking to the streets, they uninterruptedly chanted, ”Long live Rêber Apo!”. In short, the Kurdish people fully lived up to the slogan set for this year’s Newroz. Undoubtedly, the strong loyalty shown to Rêber Apo and the strong embrace of his historic call was the Kurdish people’s Newroz message. And one must not overlook that the messages of the Kurdish people at Newroz have a historical significance. In this year, with a very clear and decisive attitude, the Kurdish people stated that the Imrali system must be abolished and Rêber Apo must be physically liberated. This is the message of this year’s Newroz. It is crucial that this message given by the Kurdish people at Newroz is understood correctly. This is the condition for living together with the Kurdish people and developing friendship among the peoples. All approaches that ignore this are hostile to the Kurdish people.

The Kurdish question has now reached a stage that imposes its solution. It is no longer possible to avoid a solution to the Kurdish question. Newroz has clearly demonstrated this fact once again. We are convinced that the most correct and realistic solution to the Kurdish question is to solve the problem on a democratic political basis, and we struggle for this to develop. The Kurdish people have once again expressed their full commitment to embrace the call of Rêber Apo. What needs to be done is to take steps accordingly, and most fundamentally, in order for this process to develop and succeed, the Imrali system must be abolished and Rêber Apo must be physically liberated, and the conditions for him to work and live freely must be ensured.

Steps must be taken immediately. However, the fact that no steps have been taken by the state so far stands before us as a problem of approach. The solution of the Kurdish question, which is essentially a democratization issue, and the recent repression and arrests against Kurds, democratic forces, and the opposition show that the government is far from the approach of solving the Kurdish question. These anti-democratic approaches of the AKP government not only show that it does not have a positive approach to the solution of the problem but also reveal that it wants to use the process for its narrow power interests. However, it is clear that a serious and deep-rooted problem such as the Kurdish question will not tolerate narrow, power-oriented approaches. It is clear that the Kurdish people will not welcome such an approach and will stand against it. Because we know very well that without a democratic mentality and approach, neither the democratization of Turkey nor the solution of the Kurdish question is possible.”