Qamishli protesters demand Kurdish as official language
Shafaq News- Qamishli
Dozens of students and teachers rallied in Qamishli on Thursday, demanding that Syria recognize Kurdish as an official language alongside Arabic and allow full Kurdish-language instruction across all school levels.
Protesters carried signs reading “Our language is our identity and existence” and “We do not want only three or four Kurdish classes,” while chanting in support of Kurdish linguistic and cultural rights.
Salma Hamo, one of the protesters, told Shafaq News that Kurds should have the right to study in their mother tongue after decades of marginalization and called for Kurdish to receive official status in Syria’s future constitution.
She described three weekly Kurdish classes as “insufficient.”
“We want the government to reconsider its latest decision and prepare educational curricula in Kurdish so Kurdish students can continue studying in their mother tongue,” Hamo said.
Shirwan Sabri, a secondary-school student, told Shafaq News that he had studied the Kurdish-language curriculum introduced by the Autonomous Administration for 12 years and would struggle to switch to Arabic-language instruction.
“Thousands of Kurdish students in Kurdish areas of Syria face the same difficulty,” he said. “We want to continue studying in our mother tongue. This is our natural right.”
Read more: Kurds in Syria: From marginalization to a defining political force
The protest follows an Aug. 27 decision by Syria’s Education Ministry expanding Kurdish-language instruction in public and private schools in areas with significant Kurdish populations.
Under the revised rules, schools will teach Kurdish as a national language for three classes a week across all educational levels, with grades counting toward students’ final results. Schools will also provide one weekly Kurdish-language activity class. During the first academic year, students may study social studies, history, geography and philosophy in either Arabic or Kurdish.
The decision implements Presidential Decree No. 13, issued by transitional President Ahmad Al-Sharaa on Jan. 16, which recognized Kurdish as a national language and allowed its teaching in public and private schools in areas with significant Kurdish populations. The decree did not grant Kurdish co-official status alongside Arabic.
Kurdish political figures have continued to press for broader recognition. Democratic Union Party (PYD) co-chair Gharib Hasso told Shafaq News earlier this month that Kurdish should become an official language alongside Arabic.
