Kurds living in different cities of Turkey celebrated the Nowruz holiday. Festive events in Diyarbakir city were attended by 500,000 people.

Mayor of Diyarbakir Osman Baydemir, Vice President of the Kurdish “Peace and Democracy” Party Gyultekin Kisnar, Chairman of the “Democratic Society Union” Ahmed Turk delivered speeches at the event. They condemned Turkish authorities’ attitude towards Kurdish people, Turkish Hurriyet daily reports.

Thousands of people celebrated the Nowruz to the songs of the famous musician of Armenian origin Aram Tigran, followed by a “march of freedom”. Sirvard Melikyan, the widow of Aram Tigran also took part in the event.

Aram Tigran was born on January 15, 1934 in Syria. He was considered the nightingale in the Middle East and over 20 years devoted himself to music, singing in Armenian, Kurdish, Turkish, Arabic, Greek and Assyrian languages. Aram Tigran translated a number of Armenian folk songs and performed them in Kurdish and Turkish.

He died on August 8, 2009. He wanted to be buried in the Armenian cemetery in Diyarbakir. However, permission was refused by Turkish authorities and he was buried in Brussels. Nevertheless, Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir took soil from the graveyard in Diyarbakir to Brussels where the musician was buried.