عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Nowruz to Be Celebrated in Damascus for First Time in Syria’s Modern History

People celebrate Nowruz in central Damascus in 2025. (Facebook)
People celebrate Nowruz in central Damascus in 2025. (Facebook)
TT
TT

Nowruz to Be Celebrated in Damascus for First Time in Syria’s Modern History

People celebrate Nowruz in central Damascus in 2025. (Facebook)
People celebrate Nowruz in central Damascus in 2025. (Facebook)

Syria’s capital is witnessing an unprecedented cultural development as preparations got underway for official and popular celebrations of Nowruz, the Kurdish New Year, marking the arrival of spring on March 21.

For the first time in modern Syrian history, festivities will take place openly in Damascus, reflecting growing recognition of the Kurdish identity and culture.

The celebrations follow a decree issued two months ago by President Ahmed al-Sharaa, with expectations of broad participation from across society. Events are set to begin Friday night and continue through Saturday.

A Nowruz concert will be held in Umayyad Square - one of Damascus’s most prominent landmarks. The Ministry of Culture has invited audiences to a performance by the Kurdish heritage group Ashti at the Damascus Opera House, while a major celebration is planned at Al-Fayhaa Stadium in the Mazzeh area. Additional festivities are expected in Kurdish-populated neighborhoods such as Rukn al-Din and Wadi al-Mashari.

Nowruz symbolizes freedom, renewal and Kurdish national identity. Traditions include lighting bonfires, performing folk dances and wearing traditional dress.

Kurdish political analyst Zaid Safouk said the occasion would resonate both domestically and regionally. “For the first time in the history of the Syrian Republic, there is official recognition of a Kurdish holiday,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat, describing the celebration as “a message of hope that peace remains the only path for societies.”

For decades under Baath Party rule and later under Bashar al-Assad, Nowruz celebrations were banned, along with public expressions of Kurdish identity. Authorities often viewed such activities as separatist threats.

That has now changed. Following the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, Damascus saw its first unrestricted Nowruz celebration in March 2025.

In January 2026, al-Sharaa issued Decree No. 13, granting broader rights to Kurdish citizens. The decree recognizes Nowruz as a national holiday, restores citizenship to previously stateless Kurds, and designates Kurdish as a national language.

Kurdish writer and political researcher Mohammed Wali described the decree as a break from decades of marginalization.

“Syrian Kurds view these steps with great positivity and have welcomed it,” he said, noting that official recognition of their language and culture represents a major milestone.

He added that acknowledging Kurdish rights within a national framework could help build “a future based on legal recognition and pluralism,” while strengthening trust among Syrians during a sensitive transitional period.

The presidency has also included Nowruz for the first time in the official holiday calendar, alongside Revolution Day, Eid al-Fitr and Mother’s Day, with public institutions closed from March 18 to 23.

Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said the move reflects “deep respect for all components of the Syrian population,” stressing that a free Syria must embrace its diverse cultures and heritage.

Damascus also hosted a rare public condolence ceremony for Kurdish politician Salih Muslim, a senior figure in the Democratic Union Party (PYD), who died on March 11. His funeral in Kobani drew Kurdish leaders and political representatives from across the region.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

2 Killed Near Israeli-Occupied Zone in South Lebanon

A Lebanese flag placed on a damaged olive tree in the southern Lebanese village of Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh, near the neighboring village of Zawtar al-Sharqiyeh, where Israeli forces are stationed, in southern Lebanon, 10 October 2026. (EPA)
A Lebanese flag placed on a damaged olive tree in the southern Lebanese village of Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh, near the neighboring village of Zawtar al-Sharqiyeh, where Israeli forces are stationed, in southern Lebanon, 10 October 2026. (EPA)
TT
TT

2 Killed Near Israeli-Occupied Zone in South Lebanon

A Lebanese flag placed on a damaged olive tree in the southern Lebanese village of Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh, near the neighboring village of Zawtar al-Sharqiyeh, where Israeli forces are stationed, in southern Lebanon, 10 October 2026. (EPA)
A Lebanese flag placed on a damaged olive tree in the southern Lebanese village of Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh, near the neighboring village of Zawtar al-Sharqiyeh, where Israeli forces are stationed, in southern Lebanon, 10 October 2026. (EPA)

Two men were killed in south Lebanon on Sunday, one by Israeli fire and the other by an explosive remnant of war, as they took part in the annual olive harvest, according to state media and local officials.

South Lebanon has been the scene of two wars since 2023 between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, and Israeli troops still occupy a band of territory 10 kilometers (six miles) wide running along the border.

The official National News Agency (NNA) said one of the men was killed in Yater, in Bint Jbeil district, when Israeli "shelling targeted the outskirts of the town while he was inspecting his land and olive harvest".

The Lebanese army blamed Israeli tank fire and called the ongoing attacks "a flagrant breach of existing agreements".

Afterwards, the Yater municipality urged residents "to avoid the outskirts of the town and refrain from crossing the earthen barrier separating some unsafe neighborhoods" for fear of Israeli attacks.

In the village of Froun, in the same district, the NNA reported that "a foreign object" left over from previous Israeli operations exploded and killed an engineer as he and others tended their trees.

The engineer had come down from Beirut, where he lives, for the harvest, Froun mayor Hassan Bazzi told AFP.

The incident prompted local residents to call off the harvest and wait for "the Lebanese army to complete the decontamination of the village", Bazzi said.

Since a framework agreement between Lebanon and Israel was struck in June, the violence in the south has diminished but not stopped.

Israel continues to carry out sporadic strikes and demolitions in and around the territory it occupies, while Hezbollah refuses to submit to government plans to disarm it.

About eight kilometers (five miles) away, in Jibshit, volunteers from the north came to help locals with the harvest in a show of solidarity.

"From north to south, one people and one land," said organizer Ahmad Chahhal.

As workers swatted at branches to make the olives fall, an AFP photographer saw drones and heard fighter jets overhead, and explosions could be heard in the distance.

Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war in early March by launching attacks against Israel in support of its backer Iran. Israel responded with an intense bombing campaign and a ground invasion.

The framework deal between Lebanon and Israel involves Hezbollah's disarmament, a gradual Israeli withdrawal and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the region.

Arab World

Saddam Haftar Assures Shaibani of General Command’s Readiness to Support Syrian People

General Saddam Haftar, deputy commander-in-chief of the Libyan National Army, and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani in Benghazi. (LNA General Command)
General Saddam Haftar, deputy commander-in-chief of the Libyan National Army, and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani in Benghazi. (LNA General Command)
TT
TT

Saddam Haftar Assures Shaibani of General Command’s Readiness to Support Syrian People

General Saddam Haftar, deputy commander-in-chief of the Libyan National Army, and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani in Benghazi. (LNA General Command)
General Saddam Haftar, deputy commander-in-chief of the Libyan National Army, and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani in Benghazi. (LNA General Command)

General Saddam Haftar, deputy commander-in-chief of the Libyan National Army, discussed with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani several issues of common interest during the minister’s first visit to Benghazi.

They also underlined the depth of the fraternal and historical relations uniting the Libyan and Syrian people.

Libya and Syria restored diplomatic ties after nearly 14 years after Shaibani visited Tripoli in August. Talks discussions aimed to strengthen bilateral relations and expand joint cooperation between the two countries, culminating in the reopening of the Syrian embassy in Libya.

The LNA General Command said on Sunday that Saddam praised the role of the Syrian leadership "in achieving security and stability in Syria, overcoming the challenges faced during the transition phase, and working to restore normalcy and open up to the international community."

He underscored the General Command's support for the Syrian leadership, and “its readiness to provide everything within its power to support the brotherly Syrian people to help Syria regain its position in the Arab and international arenas.”

For his part, Shaibani expressed the Syrian leadership's keenness to support everything that would achieve permanent stability in Libya.

Arab World

139 Migrants, Including Children, Die After Boat Capsizes off Djibouti

A portion of the vessel floats after it capsized while carrying about 305 people from Djibouti to Yemen. (Kennedy Omondi Okoth/International Organization for Migration/Handout via Reuters)
A portion of the vessel floats after it capsized while carrying about 305 people from Djibouti to Yemen. (Kennedy Omondi Okoth/International Organization for Migration/Handout via Reuters)
TT
TT

139 Migrants, Including Children, Die After Boat Capsizes off Djibouti

A portion of the vessel floats after it capsized while carrying about 305 people from Djibouti to Yemen. (Kennedy Omondi Okoth/International Organization for Migration/Handout via Reuters)
A portion of the vessel floats after it capsized while carrying about 305 people from Djibouti to Yemen. (Kennedy Omondi Okoth/International Organization for Migration/Handout via Reuters)

At least 139 people, including children, have died after a boat carrying more than 300 migrants capsized off the coast of Djibouti in east Africa, the International Organization for Migration said Sunday.

That number only includes those buried by authorities in Djibouti. Others have been buried by the migrants themselves, but they won't be added to the official count until authorities can verify the bodies, Alexandre Coissac, IOM Chief of Mission in Djibouti, told the AP via the phone.

“What is terrible is that they were buried with no names, in a common grave, like in a war situation,” Coissac said. “They all have a mother, a father, and we may never learn what happened.”

Coissac said the migrants boarded the ship in the evening of Oct. 8 and that it sank very soon after, close to the shore, “mainly because it was overcrowded.”

“The local authorities did their best,” Coissac said, “but they were overwhelmed with all the bodies that kept coming at once towards the shore.”

He said authorities were bringing the surviving migrants to the IOM rescue center in Obock where they received medical assistance after swallowing sea water, and psychological support.

“They're all in a state of shock,” Coissac, who visited the area of the shipwreck Saturday, said. “I tried to talk to some of them but it's very difficult.”

Some of the migrants in the IOM center are already aware that their family members died during the shipwreck. Others were given access to phones to call loved ones back home to notify them they are alive.

At least 84 people remained missing in one of the deadliest shipwrecks yet on the popular but perilous crossing from the Horn of Africa to the Arabian Peninsula, where many migrants seek work in Gulf nations.

The boat was traveling from Djibouti to Yemen when it capsized on Thursday night or Friday morning, according to the IOM. More than 80 people survived, all of them Ethiopian nationals, it said.

The Geneva-based UN migration agency said the vessel had 305 people on board and warned that the death toll could still rise.

Personal items likely belonging to the migrants, including shoes, were seen on a beach in a video shared by IOM. Rescue work continued as fears grew for the missing.

Tens of thousands of migrants from the Horn of Africa travel every year through Djibouti and across the Bab al-Mandeb Strait towards Gulf countries in search of safety and economic opportunities, the IOM said in its statement.

That movement has continued despite newly escalating fighting in Yemen, on the other side of the strait.

“This is a devastating loss of life,” said Coissac. “This tragedy is a stark reminder of the dangers faced by migrants along this migration corridor as they seek economic opportunities.”

In recent weeks, at least 2,000 Yemenis have received aid in Djibouti as the fighting has escalated in Yemen between the legitimate government and Iranian-backed Houthi militia.

That's the opposite direction from the movement of the migrants who died in the shipwreck and the typical migration patterns of recent years: The tens of thousands who cross from eastern Africa toward Yemen each year have typically been looking for work in the Gulf.

Over 900 migrants died or went missing along the route last year, according to IOM’s Missing Migrants Project.

“No one gets into a boat like that unless they believe there is no other safe way,” IOM Director-General Amy Pope said. “We cannot keep treating these deaths as normal. Safe and legal pathways save lives. I am asking governments and donors to act before the next boat goes down.”