Nineteen people were arrested in the western Turkish city of Izmir yesterday, a day before Newroz celebrations for the Kurdish New Year, the DHA news agency reported.
Kurds in Turkey will welcome spring today, celebrating the new year during the festival of Newroz.
The arrests came ahead of planned demonstrations that could potentially turn violent as the event usually becomes an opportunity for political expression.
Among those held were two mayors of pro-Kurdish opposition party HDP, DHA said.
The authorities have banned Newroz festivities in the restive, largely Kurdish southeast of the country.
Events are only being allowed in the Kurdish city of Diyarbakir today, and tens of thousands are expected to attend.
The security situation has been tense for several months in the south-east, and the Turkish army said on Saturday night that a soldier was killed in an attack by the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Nusaybin.
In July last year, a two-year ceasefire between the PKK and the state collapsed after peace negotiations stagnated.
Many hundreds have died in the renewed conflict, mostly in the southeast, including civilians.
Variations of Newroz are also celebrated in Syria, Iraq, Iran and the Caucuses.
Newroz festivities were banned in Turkey until 1995 when then prime minister Tansu Ciller declared that the festival was in fact a Turkic event.
Despite a number of official celebrations of the festival, the vast majority of people who celebrate Newroz are of Kurdish origin.
Riot police detain a pro-Kurdish demonstrator during a gathering in Istanbul to celebrate the spring festival of Newroz despite a ban from the governorship.
