March 21 marks Newroz, the Kurdish New Year, a joyous celebration of renewal. But for Kurds, it is far more than the arrival of spring. It symbolizes resistance, a declaration of existence in the face of relentless oppression, and a reaffirmation of a centuries-old struggle for freedom.

Across Greater Kurdistan and the diaspora, millions of Kurds gather every year to light torches, dance in traditional dress, and celebrate Newroz. These fires are not merely symbolic of seasonal change but of defiance against the forces that seek to extinguish Kurdish identity. This year, however, Newroz carries even greater significance given the fall of the Assad regime and the unfolding changes in the region.

In Syria, Kurds stand at a pivotal moment. With the fall of the Assad regime and the emergence of a new Syrian authority, Kurdish forces under the SDF have emerged as a decisive power in shaping a future Syria. Despite ongoing challenges, their political and military resilience has transformed them into a formidable force that cannot be ignored by the new administration or regional and Western powers.

In Turkish-occupied Kurdistan or Northern Kurdistan, Newroz arrived amid mass protests against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s rule and renewed hints at a potential peace process with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM).

Rojhelat rises: Kurdish defiance and the regime’s fear

But perhaps nowhere was Newroz more politically significant this year than in Iran’s Kurdish region known as Rojhelat. Kurds in Rojhelat began their Newroz celebrations earlier than the spring equinox on March 21 and continued for a few weeks. What was most striking was the choice by many to wear the Jamanah head wrap and khaki colors as a symbolic gesture of defiance, given that these colors are commonly worn by Kurdish peshmerga who oppose the Shia theocracy that has ruled Iran since 1979. This year’s Newroz celebrations are referred to by Kurds as Newrozi Khaposhi, meaning khaki-wearing Newroz.

The large turnout for the celebrations across major cities was unprecedented and took social media by storm. In Mahabad, thousands of Kurds gathered in traditional attire, reaffirming Newroz as a cultural and political act of defiance. Mahabad, the birthplace of the short-lived Kurdish Republic in 1946, symbolizes the Kurdish struggle for self-determination. However, these celebrations were met with severe repression. According to the Hengaw Human Rights Organization, Iranian security forces summoned thousands of people and arrested at least 41 individuals, including six children, across multiple Kurdish cities, including Urmia, Oshnavieh, Sardasht, Saqqez, Marivan, Sanandaj, Piranshahr, Illam and Kermanshah.

In Marivan, the regime even recruited religious clerics loyal to it to decree fatwas that incited violence against Kurds celebrating Newroz. A report by Hengaw cites that a religious figure of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Marivan, Mustafa Sherzadi, warned young people against holding Newroz celebrations and incited groups called the “Religious Honor Forces” to attack and suppress Kurds participating in the celebrations. This crackdown highlights the Iranian regime’s systematic efforts to suppress Kurdish cultural expression and political activism through any means necessary.

Another factor that made this year’s Newroz celebrations significant among Kurds in Iran was the presence of women dressed in traditional Kurdish clothes and without the required hijab that led to Zhina Amini’s death and sparked a revolution for Women, Life and Freedom. Despite threats and the summoning of participants at the Newroz events, women danced freely in defiance of unjust morality laws and demonstrated their desire to celebrate life as a free people.

A further factor that made this year’s Newroz significant was the mobilization of Kurds across all Kurdish regions. Thousands came out to celebrate despite the repressive environment in Kurdish areas. Kurds in provinces like Kermashan and Illam also turned up in the thousands, which was unprecedented considering that historically Kurds have been most active politically and culturally in the Mukriyan region and Kurdistan Province. This mass mobilization across all areas inhabited by Kurds put on display the unity of the Kurdish people in Iran, the organization of Kurdish civil society and a new sense of hope in the air as regional events unfold in ways that could present opportunities for Kurds to secure their rights as a people.

From Newroz to nationalist backlash

The unprecedentedly large and passionate Kurdish turnout across all Kurdish-inhabited areas for peaceful Newroz celebrations sent shockwaves through nationalist and state-backed circles. The size and visibility of the Kurdish celebrations, coupled with the growing strength of Kurdish identity in Rojhelat, triggered an immediate backlash from Turkish nationalist groups in the city of Urmia, where over 150,000 Kurds gathered to celebrate Newroz.

According to Rudaw and other reputable news outlets, at an Alawite religious gathering in Urmia shortly after Newroz, a crowd chanted openly anti-Kurdish slogans like “Urmia belongs to the Turkics and will remain Turkic” and “No Kurd can pass here if a Turkic doesn’t allow it.” “Azerbaijan will never part from Khamenei.” These chants were not random — they were an intentional escalation, aiming to reassert Turkish nationalist dominance over a city that has historically been home to Kurds, Assyrians, Armenians and other ethnic groups alongside its Turkish-speaking population.

The rallying cry of “Hassani, where are you to back and support the Turkics?” invoked the name of Gholamreza Hassani, a cleric infamous for his role in the 1979 Qarna massacre, when Kurdish villagers were slaughtered by state-backed militias.

The backlash reveals how the Islamic regime uses anti-Kurdish sentiment and the ethnic and religious divide among Kurds and Azeris to further threats and animosity toward Kurds under its rule. This anti-Kurdish demonstration was followed a week later by the circulation of a petition by Persian nationalist elites published on Iran’s Khabar Online news agency. The petition, signed by over 800 Iranian academics, musicians, artists and performers, reacts to the celebrations in Kurdish areas and events corresponding to it as a threat to national cohesion, aiming to justify and further institutionalize the marginalization of Kurds and other ethnic nations under Iranian rule.

Iranian nationalist rage and the petition to erase Kurdish identity

While the petition does not explicitly cite the Kurds, the reaction to the Kurdish Newroz celebration makes it clear that references to ethnicity are deliberately indirect references to the Kurds. The points raised by the drafters of the petition reinforce the marginalization of Kurds and other ethnicities under the guise of defending “national unity.” This is evident in the main arguments made in the petition and illustrates how Persian supremacist narratives work to erase and suppress non-Persian ethnic groups like the Kurds in Iran.

Firstly, the petition insists that Newroz is exclusively “Iranian” and dismisses Kurdish celebrations as “small ethnic, tribal, and local ceremonies.” It even calls Kurdish festivities “imitative and fabricated.” This revisionist history denies the deep Kurdish and non-Persian roots of Newroz, portraying Persian traditions as the only legitimate expression of the holiday. Furthermore, the labeling of Kurds and other ethnicities as “tribal” is equivalent to the European colonizers’ racist labeling of indigenous populations as savage with no culture or civilization. This labeling plays a role in the erasure of Kurds and other non-Persian ethnicities in Iran to delegitimize any counter-narrative to the Persian-centric narrative that Iranian elites hold so dear.

Secondly, the petition labels Kurdish celebrations as “dangerous,” “provocative” and “worthy of condemnation.” The gathering of 150,000 Kurds in Urmia and other Kurdish-inhabited cities was framed as an extremist political event rather than a cultural celebration. This supremacist logic seeks to portray any assertion of non-Persian identity as a security threat.

Thirdly, the document attacks efforts to teach Kurdish, Azeri and Arabic mother tongue languages by portraying them as a “misuse” of Article 15 of Iran’s constitution, which in theory allows for regional languages to be taught and used in local media and schools. The drafters of the petition claim that linguistic rights will “fragment” the country, reinforcing the forced assimilation of non-Persian communities.

Fourthly, the petition accuses Kurds and other ethnic groups of being manipulated by foreign powers, implying that their desire for political and cultural rights is not genuine but an “imported” agenda. This rhetoric suggests that non-Persian peoples are inherently disloyal. These same accusations are levied against anyone who criticizes regime policy and often lead to capital punishment for Kurds and other non-Persian activists unjustly imprisoned under bogus charges.

Additionally, the petition is riddled with fear-mongering about ethnicity while promoting Persian nationalism as the only legitimate source of identity in Iran. It implies that Persian culture must remain dominant and that others should assimilate rather than embrace their ancient heritage.

Lastly, the petition calls for the suppression of non-Persian cultural and political expression in Iran. The authors urge Iranian authorities to silence Kurdish activism and expression of cultural identity by censoring and controlling Newroz and other cultural celebrations by Kurds and other non-Persian ethnicities. They advocate for the dismissal of officials who support federalism, linguistic rights or non-Persian cultural expressions and direct the government to crack down and increase repression to maintain security and national cohesion.

What the petition reveals about Iranian elites

The signatories of this petition claim to be concerned about national unity and seem alarmed about Kurds expressing their cultural identity. They fear-monger about the very idea of ethnic identity and frame it through a security lens that furthers the oppression of Kurds and other ethnic groups in Iran. This mindset reveals that the chauvinistic and racist mindset often attributed to the ruling Shia theocracy is not exclusive to the governing apparatus but is very much a part of the educated elite of Iranian society inside and outside the country. It further highlights that the occupiers of the Kurds fear any form of gathering and expression of identity by Kurds, whether it be in Iran, Turkey, Syria or Iraq.

Although a lot has changed in the last two countries mentioned, the anti-Kurdish mindset and policies of forced assimilation against Kurds and other ethnic nationalities are still active and being furthered not just by the government in Iran but also by a chauvinistic and racist class of educated Iranian elites that seek to further criminalize ethnic identity by calling for restrictions on freedom of expression, gathering and political activism among non-Persian groups. This outlook is unjust and extremely dangerous because it portrays Kurdish identity as a national security threat, which legitimizes the abhorrent levels of executions, imprisonment and oppression against Kurds and other ethnic minorities like the Baloch and Ahwaz.

This securitization of ethnicity and culture is not new. It is meant to suppress and discourage efforts to democratize and devolve power from Persian-centric policies to a more multi-ethnic framework of power and citizenship, revealing that Iranian society and government are unlikely to embrace any form of a multicultural political entity or decentralization championed by the Kurds as the way forward for Iran. This refusal to accept the reality on the ground — that Iran is a multi-ethnic state with varying identities — will be what leads to Iran’s partition, not the Kurdish expression of identity and culture. Until Iranian elites come to terms with this reality, the prospects of internal conflict in Iran remain high.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Fair Observer’s editorial policy.