Kurdistan PM marks Newroz with message of perseverance amid coronavirus outbreak
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Friday wished Kurdish people a happy new year on the eve of Newroz, also thanking the public for their cooperation with regulations instituted to prevent the spread of the highly infectious coronavirus.
“I extend my warmest congratulations and blessings to the people of Kurdistan, especially the brave Peshmerga fighters, and the proud families of the martyrs, and I hope that this year will be a year of peace and blessings for all,” Prime Minister Barzani said in his statement.
“As you can see, we are going through this national celebration in difficult circumstances, in light of the spread of the emerging coronavirus and its negative effects on the economy,” Barzani added. He also thanked the people of Kurdistan for their “commitment to the health instructions and preventive measures taken,” stating that the government’s primary concern is “the people’s safety and the preservation of their health.”
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“It is true that the most prominent action taken is restricting the people’s movement, but we are fully confident that we will overcome this crisis through cooperation, as we have overcome far more difficult conditions with endurance,” Barzani noted.
“I hope that these challenges will be an incentive to review and to protect ourselves better in the future, and will give us the resolve to continue the process of administrative and economic reform, which is one of the main priorities of the ninth cabinet of the Kurdistan Regional Government [(KRG)].”
Barzani also emphasized the importance “of diversifying the economy of the Kurdistan Region and not to rely on a single source of income,” noting further that “the current situation motivates us more to continue to make reforms in the field.”
Kurds are among the hundreds of millions of people around the world who celebrate Newroz—which is concurrent with the vernal equinox and the first day of spring.
For the Kurdish people, Newroz is an event that symbolizes their revolution and struggles throughout history. It has also become one of the most common festivals in the region, growing in popularity each year.
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This year, however, the KRG has become one of many governments forced to suspend national festivals and impose a curfew in response to the outbreak of a virus known as COVID-19, which first emerged in China in late 2019.
Editing by Kosar Nawzad