For eight years, the torches were lit in secret. This time, they burned in the open.
Return to Afrin Marks First Public Celebration Since Displacement and Recognition of Kurdish Rights
For the first time in eight years, Abdul Rahman Omar climbed the hills above his village in Afrin carrying a torch — not in fear, but in celebration.
Omar fled Afrin in 2018 as Turkish forces and allied Syrian factions pushed Kurdish fighters from the district in a sweeping offensive. Like thousands of others, he spent years displaced, watching from afar as his hometown changed hands and many Kurdish families lost their homes.
This spring, he returned.
On Friday evening, he joined hundreds of neighbors to celebrate Nowruz, the ancient Persian new year observed widely across the Kurdish world. For the first time in decades, the festival was not only tolerated but officially recognized by Syria’s new government as a national holiday.
Nowruz, meaning “new year” in Farsi, dates back roughly 3,000 years and is rooted in Zoroastrian tradition. It is celebrated by Kurds in Syria, Turkey, Iraq and Iran, as well as by diverse communities across faiths and in the diaspora.
In Afrin, the festivities included traditional line dances, Kurdish flags and torch-bearing processions winding into the mountains.
As flames flickered against the night sky, celebrants spelled out the word “raperin” — uprising — in fire.
The return of displaced Kurds follows a political shift in Damascus. After clashes earlier this year between government forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an agreement was reached to integrate the SDF into the national army and restore central government authority over parts of northeastern Syria.
As part of the deal, authorities pledged to facilitate the return of Kurdish families to Afrin. Hundreds have already made the journey back, including convoys from Hassakeh province.
Interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa issued a decree recognizing Kurdish identity, granting Kurdish official language status alongside Arabic and reinstating citizenship to thousands stripped of it decades ago. Under the Assad dynasty, which ended with the ouster of Bashar al-Assad in 2024, public Nowruz celebrations were banned and Kurdish cultural expression was often suppressed.
For many returnees, the homecoming is layered with emotion. Omar said the village feels emptier than before; many friends remain abroad. Yet lighting a torch openly, without fear of arrest, carried profound meaning.
“This is the first time I go to the mountain and light the flame and I’m not afraid,” he said. “I’m celebrating my holiday and speaking in my own tongue without being afraid.”
In Afrin, the fire this year was not just symbolic of spring. It marked a fragile new beginning.
