Overview
- Syria’s decree recognizes Kurdish identity, designates Kurdish as a national language, restores citizenship stripped by the 1962 Hasaka census, makes Nowruz a paid holiday, and bans ethnic or linguistic discrimination.
- Kurdish authorities welcomed the move as a first step but said lasting protections require constitutional guarantees rather than a presidential decree.
- Government forces on Saturday took Deir Hafer and Maskana east of Aleppo, and state media said troops entered Tabqa and captured its military airport, a claim the SDF disputed.
- State outlets reported advances into Raqqa countryside and the handover of the al-Rasafa and Safyan oilfields to the state oil company, as the army declared areas west of the Euphrates a closed military zone.
- The SDF accused Damascus of breaching withdrawal terms and reported clashes south of Tabqa, while CENTCOM urged Syrian forces to cease offensive actions and U.S. envoy Tom Barrack met Mazloum Abdi in Erbil with France and Iraqi Kurdistan calling for de-escalation.