NEVRUZ STATEMENT OF EGEMEN BAGIS

Minister for European Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis has issued a written statement on the occasion of Nevruz.

Egemen Bagis stated the following:

On April 21, we celebrate Nevruz and commemorate the anniversary of the death of our great poet Aşık Veysel.

Aşık Veysel, who wrote “The dark earth is my faithful beloved”, was reunited with the earth on 21 March, the day of Nevruz when the earth greens once again.

As Aşık Veysel had said so well:

KURDISH, TURKISH, CIRCASSIAN

ALL ARE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF ADAM

TOGETHER THEY BECAME MARTYRS OR VETERANS

IS THIS WRONG AND IF SO HOW

OUR FIRE BURNS US ALONE

EXTINGUISHING IT IS THE REMEDY

Today we light the fires of spring, peace and harmony and put out the fires of hatred, animosity and hatred with Veysel’s poetry.

This year we share a different kind of hope and enthusiasm.

We give the gift of Nevruz, the messenger of peace, just as the cemre (an ember believed to be fall in succession to and warm the earth, water and air) is the messenger of spring, to our people who weren’t able to fully enjoy this day for a long time.

As a people who seek peace, we look forward to the Nevruz celebration which will mean the turning of a new page.

We hope that Nevruz, which means “new day”, will be a period in which new beginnings will flourish for our country as well.

This is the time to bond together against those who think they can hurt our brotherhood by pursuing their petty deals.

As the glorious Allah commands: “O ye who believe! Enter into Islam wholeheartedly; and follow not the footsteps of the evil one; for he is to you an avowed enemy” (Bakara 208).

Malevolent ones who attempt to turn the light of Nevruz into a fire for our country with sound bombs and LAW weapons should be aware that this fire will be extinguished by the light of the torch lit for peace by our people.

These heinous attacks demonstrate how far those who pursue these loathsome ambitions and gain from trading in blood have been backed into a corner.

The infinite eminence and horizon of our people is in every breath they take and in every inch of our land and every drop of our waters.

These nefarious enemies should realise that peace will come to this country, take root and diffuse into every part.

We are going through a very sensitive and critical juncture to the years-long grief through establishing and ensuring peace at any cost.

The days when we, as a nation, remove the knife lodged in our backs and salve our wounds, and have this country regain the place it longs for in the stage of history are near.

This day is the day to bond together. This day is the day to transform this “new day”, in other words Nevruz, into new springs for Turkey.

We extend this wish that Nevruz brings peace to our country and our people and kites symbolizing peace fly in our skies always and we say in the name of peace: “We will either find a way or make a way.”