First day of spring, Newroz festivities have been organized all around the country on March 21. Tens of thousands of people attended the celebrations in Istanbul.

Despite warnings by the organizing committee, celebrations were frequently interrupted by slogans and raising of posters of Abdullah Ocalan, ex-leader of the pro-Kurdish guerilla group PKK. Ocalan had been arrested in 1999 and still stays in prison following a trial.

12 people who tried to enter the festival arena with Ocalan posters were taken under custody. The organizing committee members and several others have also been apprehended at the end of the day.

Turkey's Human Rights Association (IHD) said 40 people have been detained by the police. An official from IHD told bianet that the real number would be in hundreds.

Demands of democracy

This year's Newroz festivities has been tagged as "Either democracy or nothing". With slogans and chants, attendees urged freedom to Abdullah Ocalan or rehabilitation of detainment facilities during the festivities.

I took to the streets and talked to the people about Newroz, which is highly politicized in par with the Kurdish insurgency. Some said that it's not in their tradition while others recognized Kurds' right to celebrate Newroz. Nonetheless, The common denominator was the same in all: "Peace".

The taxi driver I met on my way to the festival, Abdullah Nergis came to Istanbul 20 years ago from Siirt in eastern Turkey.

"The state recognizes Newroz. Kurds have the right to celebrate it" he said. "But I'm not happy that it comes with violence". His wish is a real, heartily celebration without violence.

I asked Yasemin, a student in the Istanbul Technical University's conservatoire, what Newroz means for her. She quoted a legend from ancient times, which connotes a Kurd blacksmith killing a king who tortured his people.

The blacksmith conveys the news to his fellow men and women at the mountains by lighting a huge fire. That's why today it's tradition to light a Newroz fire in all festivities.

NGO's support the festivities

During the celebrations in Istanbul, several groups gave concerts; pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) provincial chair Doğan Erbaş and Sultan Bozkurt from Mothers for Peace addressed the crowd.

Many NGO's and rights organizations joined the festivities.

On another accounts 48 people have been taken under custody in Diyarbakır. Also clashes between the security forces and demonstrators have been reported from Mersin, Şırnak, Konya and several other cities during the festivities.

The government officials on the other hand, followed the recent tradition of organizing an official celebration in Ankara, to convey that it's also a Turkish tradition.(EZÖ/EÜ)