#friuli

25th April 1999: the first massive demonstration for Europe's stateless peoples

The 25th of April is commemorated in the Valencian Country because it's the anniversary of the Battle of Almansa (year 1707), the battle through which the Spanish army started the military occupation of the Valencian Country, that would later also reach Catalonia and the Balearic Islands. The Spanish occupation marked the beginning of a strong imperialist rule where Spain tried to exterminate the Valencian/Catalan language, culture and identity, leading to the discrimination that we still suffer nowadays. For this reason, the 25th of April is the Day for National Liberties in the Valencian Country.

Every year, there is a demonstration to commemorate this day and to show that the Valencian people are still alive and demand to have equal rights. In 1999, the demonstration, was called "For a Europe of Free Peoples". The first line of the demonstration (1st photo) consisted of 9 young people carrying the flags of occupied nations of Europe: the Catalan Countries (which includes the Valencian Country), Galicia, the Basque Country, Scotland, Flanders, Occitania, Brittany, Northern Ireland, and Wales. The opening banner was carried by the general secretary of Acció Cultural del País Valencià (the Valencian organization that calls the march), the responsible of Foreign Affairs for the Kurdish assembly on exile Ali Yigit, and other representatives from cultural resistance organizations and universities in Catalonia, the Basque Country, Friuli, and Galicia. Next to them, a young woman carrying a portrait of the imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan.

The demonstration asked for freedom for occupied nations and for the end of the Balkan War. Many music bands and folk culture groups that had come from throughout the Valencian Country played to encourage the march, which ended with a homage to the Kurdish people. The demonstration was attended by 50,000 people, according to the organizers.

Interior of the Miramare Castle of the Habsburgs near Trieste, Friuli Venezia Giulia region of Italy

Italico Brass (Italian, 1870-1943)