ISTANBUL,— Hozan Kawa, a Kurdish musician who flew from Köln to Istanbul on Monday to join celebrations for the Kurdish new year (Newroz) festival this weekend, has been detained at Istanbul Atatürk Airport.

The 43-year-old musician was taken to the police station at the airport after his arrival because of a detention order that had been issued against him in 2006, his lawyer, Emin Coşkun, said.

Kawa left Turkey in 1995 and a Van court issued a detention warrant against him in 2006, he said.

Kawa was expected to be referred to the Bakırköy Courthouse on Tuesday.

The musician was expecting to join Newroz celebrations in the Kurdish southeastern province of Diyarbakır on March 21.

Newroz, is the traditional Kurdish new year, The year 2015 corresponds to the Kurdish year 2715. All Kurds around the world are celebrating the new year (Newroz)

The Kurdish calendar starts at 612 BC. This is the year that Cyaxares, the grandson of Deioces (Díyako), the first king of the Medes’ empire, occupied Nineveh and put the end to the brutality of the Assyrian empire in the lands under its occupation.

Throughout Kurdish history, Newroz is not only considered as their New Years, but has been also considered as a symbol of freedom, struggle for justices, and peaceful coexistence with those nations who have conquered Kurds lands-Kurdistan. Although Newroz has for over 2700 years been celebrated and considered as the Kurdish New Years and National Holidays, for political reasons, Persians consider it as “Iranian” and “their” new years.

And the funniest political scenario is that, Turkey, which until recent years didn’t allow it’s 22-million Kurds to freely celebrate Newroz, now considers Newroz as “the beginning of spring festivals” and tries to connect the only happy Kurdish event, to a different and unrelated event. Kurdish Calendar changes on March 21st.

Newroz has a highly symbolic meaning for Kurds, with colorful celebrations across Turkish Kurdistan, the dominantly Kurdish southeast of Turkey.

Copyright ©, respective author or news agency, cihan.com.tr | Ekurd.net | Agencies

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