Nevruz marked in country in shadow of deadly quakes

ISTANBUL

Thousands of people have marked Nevruz, a traditional festival that celebrates the arrival of spring, with colorful rituals across the country, especially in the southeastern and eastern parts.

Nevruz is marked as part of Kurdish, Iranian and Eurasia traditions in the second half of March as the first day of spring with colorful celebrations.

However, this year’s celebrations, which took place in various cities across the country, including Istanbul, the capital Ankara, the southeastern province of Diyarbakır and the eastern province of Van, were held under the shadow of the Feb. 6 major earthquake which claimed the lives of more than 50,000 people lost their lives.

“This year’s Nevruz is a bit sad, this year’s Nevruz is heartbreaking, it’s angry [and] … dedicated to those who lost their lives in the earthquake,” Pervin Buldan, a co-chair of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), said during a speech at the event in Istanbul.

In many cities in Iran, people also jumped over small bonfires with a belief of trying to purify themselves against evil and misery and celebrated the beginning of the New Year according to the country’s official Solar Hijri calendar.

Similar festivities were also held in Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

Nevruz is officially registered on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity List, and the United Nations General Assembly has also declared March 21 as “International Nevruz Day.”

But, the festival can be celebrated for a week starting from March 19.