JINHA

RIHA – The massive Newroz celebrations planned for the Kobanê border have already begun to enliven the Aligör neighborhood of Suruç, where hundreds of people danced around the first Newroz fire last night.

Suruç will be the first place to celebrate Newroz this year, kicking off the celebrations of the Kurdish New Year that will be celebrated across Kurdistan and throughout the Kurdish diaspora. Tuesday March 17 will mark the kickoff of celebrations in the village of Etmanek, just across the border from Kobanê. Tens of thousand of people are expected, including heads of major political parties and civil society organizations like Democratic Society Congress (DTK), Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and Democratic Regions Party (DBP), in addition to international delegations.

Citizens in the neighborhood of Aligör have already begun to honor the Kobanê resistance with their Newroz fire, around which hundreds danced traditional Kurdish line dances last night. They shot off fireworks, easily visible from Kobanê and cried slogans in praise of the YPG/YPJ and the Kobanê resistance.

(ip/msd/fk/mg/cm)