By Jonny Dymond BBC Istanbul correspondent

In the city of Diyarbakir, the talk was of democracy and freedom.

Hundreds of thousands of people streamed out of the city, wriggled through neverending police checkpoints and gathered to rejoice, to wave flags, to chant and to sing.

This was the third year that the overwhelmingly Kurdish population had been allowed by the government to celebrate Nevroz.

Festivities were banned in a number of cities

The festival - known as Nowruz in other countries - is enjoyed across the Middle East and Central Asia in different ways.

For some it is the beginning of spring; for the Kurds it has become a reaffirmation of their identity.

The legend behind the festival is one which would inspire any oppressed group. Years ago, it is said, a Mesopotamian emperor was slaughtering children and eating their brains.

But a blacksmith, one of whose children had been taken from him, broke into the emperor's palace, slew the evil ruler.

To celebrate and to tell those outside that he had succeeded, he then set a fire inside the palace.

Boisterous crowd

Fire is still an important part of the ceremony of Kurdish Nevroz.

In the field outside Diyarbakir where the celebrations took place any semblance of control was lost after the first fire was lit in front of the main stage.

Fire plays an important part in the celebrations

The crowd surged forward cheering as within minutes the sky was thick with black smoke as fires were lit around the field.

The mood inside the festival area was mixed; overwhelmingly joyful, but with anger and frustration as well. Turkey's Kurds do not get a good deal.

The government refuses to grant its 12 million strong Kurdish minority rights and does all it can to hinder the maintenance of Kurdish identity.

Political message

Broadcasting in Kurdish is forbidden as is the teaching of Kurdish in schools.

Kurds have been arrested for using the language on wedding invitations or giving their children Kurdish names.

So Nevroz is a day when Kurds can celebrate being Kurds - and outside Diyarbakir, that is what they did, waving the yellow flag of Hadep, the Kurdish political party (itself under legal threat) and the red green and yellow Kurdish colour.

Nevroz is a celebration of the Kurdish identity

There was another side to the boisterous crowd.

Now and then a chant would be taken up of 'Long live Apo' or 'Freedom for Apo', a reference to the imprisoned leader of the Kurdish paramilitary group the PKK, Abdullah Ocalan.

Ocalan is loathed by the vast majority of Turks, who blame him for the thousands of deaths during the Turkish state's civil war with the Kurds of the 1980s and 90s.

'A beautiful time'

But Kurdish politicians at the festival were not interested in that side of Kurdish identity. The Mayor of Diyarbakir was overjoyed with the celebrations:

"Nevroz" he said, "has been celebrated with a great enthusiasm for the last two years by our people who seek brotherhood and democracy.

"It's a very beautiful time, and people can express their democratic demands"

The festival was, he said, three things: a cultural celebration, a political event, and a party.

Violence has marred celebrations in past years

The Turkish government, after having long resisted Nevroz , has tried to take it for its own. It says it embraces the holiday - but only on its own terms.

The authorities in Istanbul refused permission for Nevroz celebrations to be held because Hadep had spelt the festival name the Kurdish way - with a 'w' rather than a 'v'.

Around 400 people have been detained in Istanbul.

In the southern coastal city of Mersin, where celebrations were banned, one man was killed during demonstrations, crushed to death between and armoured personnel carrier and a mosque.

Nobody knew about that in Diyabarkir; though as the rain and hail fell, spirits were dampened.

And word would soon spread about the deaths and the demonstrations. It will be a long time for the Kurds before Nevroz is simply a holiday.