Eurasia Press & News
Syria’s Kurdish authorities say the move does not guarantee people’s rights
Syria’s President Ahmad Al Shara on Friday issued a decree affirming the rights of Kurdish Syrians, formally recognising their language and restoring citizenship to the country’s largest minority community.
“I have the honour to issue a decree especially for our Kurdish people, which guarantees their rights and some of their privileges in accordance with the law,” he said in a speech, in which he also referred to the Kurds as “the grandchildren of Salahuddin”.
The decree also declares Nowruz, the spring and new year festival, a paid national holiday, state news agency Sana reported.
It bans ethnic or linguistic discrimination, requires state institutions to adopt inclusive national messaging and sets penalties for incitement to ethnic strife.
The decree also grants, for the first time, Kurdish Syrians rights, including recognition of Kurdish identity as part of Syria’s national fabric.
“Syrian citizenship is granted to all residents of Kurdish origin living in Syria, including those previously unregistered, with full equality in rights and duties,” the decree said.
It also designates Kurdish as a national language alongside Arabic and permits schools to teach it.
It abolishes measures dating from a 1962 census in Hasakah province, which stripped many Kurds of Syrian nationality, and grants citizenship to all affected residents, including those previously registered as stateless.
US envoy Tom Barrack was meeting with Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader Masoud Barzani in Erbil on Saturday, before a scheduled meeting with Syrian Democratic Forces commander Mazloum Abdi. Mr Barzani has played a key role in mediating between Mr Abdi and the Syrian government in an attempt to facilitate an agreement to bring the SDF under state institutions.
The Kurdish-run Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (Rojava) did not consider the decree a breakthrough but rather a “first step”.
“The issuance of any decree, regardless of its intentions, cannot constitute a real guarantee for the rights of Syrian components unless it is part of a comprehensive constitutional framework that recognises and safeguards the rights of all without exception,” it said in a statement issued hours after the President’s announcement.
It called for the creation of an inclusive democratic constitution that guarantees the rights of the various components in Syria.
However, assistant professor in Mena studies at Lancaster University Rahaf Al Doughli told The National that Mr Al Shara has “great legislative authority”, making his decree almost as powerful as a constitutional one.
Mr Al Shara’s move comes after fierce clashes broke out last week between the army and the mainly Kurdish SDF in the northern city of Aleppo.
At least 23 people were killed, according to Syria’s Health Ministry, and the fighting forced more than 150,000 to flee the two Kurdish-run pockets of the city. The clashes ended after Kurdish fighters withdrew, but on Saturday a renewed offensive saw the army mount a rapid offensive and declared areas west of the Euphrates a military zone.
Mohammed Salih, a researcher on Kurdish Affairs, described the President’s decision as “remarkable” because of its departure from Syria’s state policy since 1946. “It is also important that this not be a tactical or insincere move by the government aimed at distracting from the military campaign it has launched since January 6 against the SDF and Kurdish areas,” he said.
The Syrian government and the SDF, which controls the country’s north-east, engaged in months of talks last year to integrate Kurdish-run militia and civilian organisations into Syrian state institutions by the end of 2025, but there has been little progress.
Mr Al Shara vowed to unify the country following the ousting of Bashar Al Assad’s regime.
