May 4. (EUROPE PRESS) –
The King of Morocco, Mohamed VI, has announced the decision to recognize the Amazigh New Year, known as Yennayer, as a national holiday, after years of campaigning by activists and members of the Berber community, which makes up more than a third of the population. from the African country.
“His Majesty King Mohamed VI, may God help him, has decided to establish the Amazigh New Year as a paid national holiday,” the Moroccan Royal House said in a statement, specifying that the decision will come into force in 2024. Yennayer is celebrated on January 13.
Thus, he stressed that the monarch “has given the order” so that “the necessary provisions are adopted” to apply this decision, before noting that it “continues to consecrate the Amazigh as an essential component of the Moroccan identity, rich due to its plurality of tributaries and common heritage of all Moroccans without exception”.
“Likewise, it falls within the framework of the constitutional consecration of Amazigh as the official language of the country, together with the Arabic language,” says the statement, published by the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs through its website.
The Yennayer commemorates the anniversary of King Shoshonq I’s accession to the throne as pharaoh of Egypt and is equally rooted in agricultural seasons. The Berbers or Amazighs are mainly distributed along the entire North African coast and up to the Sahel, concentrating mainly in Morocco and Algeria.
The Amazigh community in Morocco has denounced for years a marginalization of their language and culture, which has led to the emergence of a movement that has been gaining influence, especially as a result of the 2011 protests in line with the so-called ‘Arab Spring. ‘, which has been reflected in the fact that the Berber obtained official status in 2019.
