Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris

Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro de la Prensa-Basm Özeti
GÜLDEMÎR
Istßnbul. Turkish
Turkish Daily News "RIDAY, MARCH 21,1997
'Nevruz is Turkish and
will remain so!I
Daily News
• This year, it looks likely that our
Newroz, thanks to the "Nevruz" which
emerged as its rival, will be even more
entertaining than last year' s.
The Newroz tension which has occupied
the whole country and even Europe
has suddenly vanished. The "I will celebrate",
"you cannot celebrate" arguments,
which would normally begin days before
the Newroz day of 21 March, and which
would become the major interest of the
media, look as if they have become history.
Foreign delegations that come to monitor
Newroz do not attract the attention of
anyone, not even those security forces who
would normally lie in wait for an opportunity
to arrest them. Another surprismg
development is the fact that the obstacles
created for the previous celebrations have
not been on the agenda for People's
Democracy Party (HADEP) this year.
HADEP will celebrate Newroz in open air
and sports hall rallies in many cities. Party
officials have obtained permission for the
celebrations from the governors with a few
exceptional refusals. It is understood that
the rulers of the country have chosen to
play "puss in the Nevruz" rather than the
usual Newroz tension. Have you not heard
of the "puss in the Nevruz" game? If you
have not, then let us explore together the
rules of this game. Only a few years ago,
the practice in Turkey was to issue one
order after the other to p'revent the Newroz
celebrations through nulitary and police
measures. This year, though, the government
has rolled up their sleeves for active
Nevruz celebrations. This holiday, that has
become a mutual show of strength
throughout the years of war in the southeast,
which the country's rulers admit
although they call it "low densitY war," is
now becoming the scene of sometimes
laughably interesting developments. A
holiday, which has been celebrated for
millennia by many people of the world is
being Turkified in front of everybody' s
eyes.
The Kurds have celebrated Newroz as
the day when the ironmonger Kawa set up
a fire on the mountains to declare to his
people that he had smashed the head of the
notorious tyrant Dahaq with his hammer.
Although not with the same mythological
content, Newroz, which means "the new
day" has also been celebrated by many
people around the world, particularly by
the peoples of the Middle East, as the turn
ot the season festival, a celebration of the
coming spring, the rebirth of nature. The
mentality which forbade such a holiday for
many years is now pursuing one discovery
after the other.
Newroz has been changed to "Nevruz"
to be reduced to an instrument of chauvin.
istic nationalism. Nevruz is now claimed
to be a holiday of the Turks to celebrate
the day when they came out of their imaginary
homeland "Ergenekon" behind the
guiding female wolf Asena. But those
who place this claim do so without thinking
about a satisfactory answer to the question
as to why should they suddenly
remember such an important day after so
many thousands of years, and not before.
What would they say in reply if someone
asks to them, "what kind of Turks are
you learning the date of coming out of
Erg~nekon from the Kurds?" But they
must have understOOd the fact that nobody
took them seriously enough to raise such
questions, as an indication of common
acceptance of their discovery, since they
continue their way with brand new discoveries.
This year' s discovery is in a pamphlet
published by the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs Turkish Cooperation and
Development Agency (TUCA) entitled
"Nevruz Yenigun" in which a picture of
Atatürk taken at a Nevruz celebration on
21 March 1922 is printed. By referring to
Atatürk, they must be thinking that nobody
could dare to Counter their claims anymore.
In fact, it is impossible not to take off
our hat before this practice of the government.
Those who suspect the Kemalism of
this government should be ashamed of
themselves. Who can suspect the loyalty
of this government to Atatürk' s principles
after witnessing their great discovery of
another Turkish national holiday with
strong refe~ences like a picture of Atatürk?
Of course, m the meantime, those who
would raise the questions like "if you were
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