Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa issued a decree on Friday declaring Kurdish a “national language”, in an apparent gesture of goodwill towards the minority following clashes in recent days. The decree is the first formal recognition of Kurdish national rights since Syria’s independence in 1946.
It stated Kurds were “an essential and integral part” of Syria, where they have suffered decades of marginalisation and oppression under former rulers. The decree makes Kurdish a “national language” that can be taught in public schools in areas where the minority community is heavily present. Sharaa also made the Kurdish new year, Nowruz, which falls on March 21, an official holiday and granted nationality to Kurds, as 20 percent of them had been stripped of it under a controversial 1962 census.