President Ahmad Al-Sharaa has issued a decree affirming that Syrian Kurdish citizens are an integral and authentic part of the Syrian people, and that their cultural and linguistic identity is an inseparable component of Syria’s unified and diverse national identity.
The decree is the first formal recognition of Kurdish national rights since Syria’s independence in 1946.
The decree designates Kurdish as a “national language” that can be taught in public schools in areas where the minority community is heavily represented.
Al-Sharaa also made the Kurdish New Year, Nowruz, which falls on March 21, an official holiday.
The president of Iraq’s Kurdistan region, Nechirvan Barzani, welcomed the new decree. Barzani described the move as a significant political and legal step toward building a new Syria.
In a televised address announcing the decree, President Al-Sharaa urged Kurds to “actively participate in building this nation,” vowing to “guarantee” their rights.
President Al-Sharaa said that there is no superiority for an Arab over a Kurd, nor a Turk, nor anyone else, except through piety and personal integrity, regardless of one’s ethnicity.
“I urge all those who were forcibly displaced from their lands to return safely and securely, without condition or restriction other than laying down arms,” said Al-Sharaa.
Meanwhile, US Central Command urged Syrian government forces to cease offensive actions between Aleppo and Tabqa in northern Syria.
The US call came as Operation Command of the Syrian Arab Army published several maps identifying specific locations in Raqqa and Tabqa, urging residents to keep away from those areas.
Operations Command warned civilians to avoid sites being used by PKK militias and remnants of the defunct regime, described as allies of the SDF organization, as bases for launching terrorist operations against Syrians and their army.
The presidential action, officially known as Decree No. 13, affirms that Syrian Kurds are an integral part of the national fabric and that their cultural and linguistic identity constitutes an inseparable element of Syria’s inclusive, diverse, and unified national identity.
Al-Sharaa’s move seeks to address the consequences of outdated policies that distorted social bonds and divided citizens.
The decree for the first time grants Kurdish Syrians rights, including recognition of Kurdish identity as part of Syria’s national fabric. It designates Kurdish as a national language alongside Arabic and allows schools to teach it.
Al-Sharaa’s decree came after fierce clashes that broke out last week in the northern city of Aleppo, leaving at least 23 people dead, according to Syria’s health ministry, and forced more than 150,000 to flee the two Kurdish-run pockets of the city. The clashes ended after Kurdish fighters withdrew.
The Syrian government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), that controls the country’s northeast, have engaged in months of talks last year to integrate Kurdish-run military and civilian bodies into Syrian state institutions by the end of 2025, but there has been little progress.
For more than half a century, Kurds in Syria were subjected to systematic discriminatory policies, most notably following the 1962 census in Hasakah Governorate, which stripped thousands of citizens of their nationality and deprived them of their most basic civil and political rights.
These policies intensified after the now-dissolved Baath Party seized power in 1963, particularly following the 1970 coup led by criminal Hafez al-Assad, entrenching a state of legal and cultural exclusion that persisted for 54 years.
With the outbreak of the Syrian revolution in March 2011, Syrian Kurds actively participated alongside other segments of society. However, the ousted regime exploited certain separatist parties, supplying them with weapons and support in an attempt to sow discord and fragment national unity.
Following victory and liberation, the state moved to correct this course by inviting the Kurdish community to fully integrate into state institutions. This approach was reflected in the signing of the “March 10 Agreement,” which marked an initial milestone on the path toward restoring rights and building a new Syria for all its citizens.
Decree No. 13 offers a balanced legal and political response to one of the most sensitive issues in modern Syrian history. It not only restores rights long denied, but also redefines the relationship between the state and its Kurdish citizens, transforming it from one rooted in exclusion to one based on citizenship and partnership.
The decree shifts the Kurdish issue from a framework of conflict to a constitutional and legal context that guarantees meaningful participation without undermining the unity or territorial integrity of the state. It affirms that addressing the legitimate demands of certain segments strengthens, rather than weakens, the state by fostering equal citizenship, respecting cultural diversity, and embracing participatory governance within a single, centralized state.
The decree commits the state to protecting cultural and linguistic diversity, guaranteeing Kurdish citizens the right to preserve their heritage, develop their arts, and promote their mother tongue within the framework of national sovereignty. It recognizes the Kurdish language as a national language and permits its teaching in public and private schools in areas with significant Kurdish populations, either as an elective subject or as part of cultural and educational activities.
It also abolishes all laws and exceptional measures resulting from the 1962 Hasakah census, grants Syrian nationality to citizens of Kurdish origin residing in Syria, including those previously unregistered, and guarantees full equality in rights and duties. In recognition of its national symbolism as a celebration of renewal and fraternity, the decree designates Nowruz Day (21 March) as a paid official holiday throughout the Syrian Arab Republic.
In a speech following the issuance of the decree, President Ahmad al-Sharaa addressed the Kurdish community, urging them not to be drawn into narratives of division and calling on them to return safely to full participation in building a single homeland that embraces all its people. He emphasized that Syria’s future will be built through cooperation and solidarity, not through division or isolation.
The decree presents a pioneering national model for engaging with diversity, grounded not in narrow identities but in inclusive citizenship, justice, and coexistence. The decree lays the foundations for a unified and strong Syria that respects all its components and safeguards its unity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.