⭐️ÖCALAN MESSAGE FOR NEWROZ 2026
"Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan sent a message on the occasion of Newroz, Kurdish New Year, to the celebrations in Amed (tr: Diyarbakır).
The message, read out by Veysi Aktaş, a former political prisoner at İmralı Island, reads as follows:
“The Newroz epic has been celebrated for thousands of years by the peoples of the Middle East as a festival of resurrection, resistance, and spring. Newroz has revived the spirit of resistance and inspired the resurgence of our peoples.
The symbols and figures of Newroz reflect the spirit of this region. Dehaq is a symbol of a state-based system. The snakes on his shoulders, which devour the brains of two young men every day, embody the brutality of the Assyrian state, while Kawa the Blacksmith is the embodiment of resistance against oppression.
The religious, sectarian, and cultural wars that have been waged in the Middle East for a thousand years are the greatest blow to the culture of coexistence among its peoples. As each identity and each belief attempts to exist by retreating into its own shell and demonizing the others, the rift between our peoples grows deeper. Our shared values and culture are being disregarded, and our differences are being turned into a cause for war.
Today’s insistence on continuing outdated policies in the region has brought disaster. The divisions created by policies of repression, denial, and hostility - particularly in the Middle East – are being used as pretexts for imperial interventions.
While in Europe, three centuries of religious and sectarian wars were resolved with the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia, in the Middle East, the continuation of these conflicts has caused profound tragedies for our peoples. But we can enable cultures and beliefs to coexist once again. It is within our power to transform the war and chaos that is being created in the Middle East into a spring of freedom for the people. We can reverse the tragedies that are being inflicted upon us and create an environment of freedom.
Today, the hidden pages of history are being revealed, and the possibility of peace between peoples and of democratic nation-building is increasing. As Sunni and Shia state traditions and nationalist traditions are overcome, free coexistence between peoples becomes a reality.
Today marks a new chapter. The path has been opened for the peoples of this region to live together freely.
The process we initiated on 27 February 2025 aims to revive the foundations of unity in keeping with the spirit of Newroz.
For this to happen, we need to believe that cultures and beliefs can coexist, that we can transcend narrow nationalist ideologies and unite on the basis of democratic integration, and that we can exist together. As in our history, we must realize that, today, we can overcome all forms of war, poverty, and barbarism.
The 2026 Newroz is the updating of this history in all its splendour. History is unfolding in present, providing an opportunity to reach a consciousness based on true cultural identity.
The meaning and power of Newroz are coming to the fore as a defining force of the present moment. This year's Newroz celebrations, and those of the years to come, are of historical significance.
The 2026 Newroz is being reborn via its own roots. It is becoming present and taking a major step toward democratic integration: it is becoming Newroz itself.
As in history, Newroz is experiencing a resurgence, asserting its influence in the heart of the Middle East. It is once again playing its role throughout the region as a symbol of democratic integration. This coming into being is already happening and will continue to unfold.
Up until now, Newroz has been celebrated with symbolic values. Today, Newroz represents not a dream or a utopia, but a real, developing communal life. Newroz is the day when we realize ourselves, both mentally and physically.
