Crackdown Ahead of Kurdish New Year

The security services attempted to prevent Kurds in northeastern Syria, and in Afrin in the northwest, from celebrating Newroz, the Kurdish new year celebrations that fall around March 21, according to a report on the All4Syria website.



The authorities banned parties, concerts and any of the outdoor gatherings typically held to mark this traditional festival.



But some Kurds went ahead with party preparations anyway, hanging lights on doors and windows even as security officers took down their names and addresses, said All4Syria, a site which is pro-government but advocates for reform.



Meanwhile, according to a statement posted on the website of the Kurdish Organisation for Human Rights in Syria, security forces in Amoda, a town in the northeastern al-Hasakah province, used bulldozers to destroy outdoor stages erected for bands to perform on at Newroz.