Newroz celebration at Paris city hall with Erbil Governor Omed Khoshnaw and Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) representative to France Ali Dolamari in attendance on March 27, 2025. Photo: screengrab/Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The city of Paris celebrated Newroz, the Kurdish New Year, for the first time at city hall on Thursday, with Erbil Governor Omed Khoshnaw and Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) representative to France Ali Dolamari in attendance.
“Of course, Paris has a great relationship and a great cooperation with Erbil. And too, of course, the Kurd community is very important for Paris, because the Kurd community is a part of Paris and we support a lot this community. And it's why this Newroz, for the first time, is organized here in the city hall of Paris,” deputy mayor of Paris in charge of international relations Arnaud Ngratcha told Rudaw at the event.
“The friendship between Erbil and Paris is very strong,” he added.
The event was organized in coordination with the Kurdistan Region's representation to Paris.
The Kurdistan Region and France enjoy close relations. Khoshnaw said both Paris and Erbil have projects that demonstrate the strength of these ties.
“Soon, within Erbil Citadel, the Paris municipality presidency will renovate a house that will become the House of Paris in Erbil. Similarly, here in Paris, a street and a park will be named after the Peshmerga, for which all processes have been completed. In the near future, a ceremony will be held here with the attendance of high-ranking officials from both the Kurdistan Region and France for the opening of this street,” Khoshnaw said.
On Thursday, Dolamari said that Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader Masoud Barzani has been invited to attend the opening of the Peshmerga park.
Danielle Mitterrand, first lady of France from 1981 to 1995, advocated for Kurds who were suffering under the regime of Saddam Hussein and was instrumental in campaigning for the no-fly zone that allowed the Kurdistan Region to develop its current autonomy. She was affectionately known as the “Mother of Kurds” and inaugurated the first Kurdish parliament in 1992.
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