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2h ago

Syria Grants Kurds Citizenship and Language Rights in Presidential Decree

Implementation remains uncertain, with Kurdish leaders yet to respond.

Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa delivers a speech on the first anniversary of Bashar al-Assad's fall, in Damascus, Syria December 8, 2025. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi/File Photo
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa attends a reception with a UN Security Council delegation at the Presidential Palace in Damascus on Dec. 4, 2025.
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa waves to the crowd at the gate of Aleppo's Citadel during celebrations marking one year since an Islamist alliance, led by Sharaa, entered the northern city and swiftly took control of it
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Overview

  • The order recognizes Kurdish as a national language and permits instruction in state and private schools where Kurdish communities are significant.
  • Citizenship is restored to residents stripped of nationality by the 1962 Hasaka census, including those previously registered as stateless.
  • Nowruz on March 21 becomes a paid national holiday, and the decree bans ethnic or linguistic discrimination with penalties for incitement.
  • The move followed last week's Aleppo fighting that killed at least 23 people and displaced more than 150,000, with clashes ending after Kurdish fighters withdrew.
  • The decree was issued hours before a planned Erbil meeting between U.S. envoy Tom Barrack and SDF commander Mazlum Kobane, Al-Monitor reported, while talks on integrating SDF institutions into the state have seen little progress.