Syrian organizations call for official recognition of Kurdish
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Twenty-six Syrian organizations called on Monday on the Syrian government to recognize Kurdish and other languages spoken in Syria as official languages, following controversy surrounding the Justice Palace in the city of Hasakah.
In a joint statement, the organizations said they were “following with concern attempts by the transitional authorities in Damascus to restrict the use of the Kurdish language in Hasakah governorate,” referring to the removal of Kurdish from the main external signboard of the Justice Palace in central Hasakah.
The organizations described the move as “an unjustified act that sparked condemnation and genuine concerns regarding the seriousness of the transitional authorities’ commitment to respecting linguistic pluralism.”
They added that the use of only one language to identify an official institution in a city inhabited by Arabs, Kurds, Syriacs and other communities undermines Syria’s cultural and ethnic diversity.
The statement called for constitutional recognition of Kurdish as an official language in Syria and urged authorities to adopt it in public spaces, education, and official transactions.
The organizations also demanded that state institutions support and promote the use of local languages across Syria through laws and legislation aimed at protecting linguistic diversity.
In addition, they called for the issuance of “immediate directives requiring respect for diversity in Syria and enhancing the use of languages in public spaces without exceptions,” while rejecting what they described as exclusionary or discriminatory policies prohibited under international human rights law.
The statement further stressed the need to guarantee the constitutional right of all Syrian communities to learn and teach their mother tongues and to integrate these rights into Syria’s educational and cultural policies.
The organizations also urged authorities to criminalize “attempts to dissolve and assimilate multiple languages and cultures into a single linguistic or national identity,” describing linguistic and cultural diversity as a source of strength for Syria.
The demands included amending the constitutional declaration to explicitly recognize Syria’s cultural and linguistic diversity and ensuring its inclusion in any future permanent constitution.
The statement came after protests were held outside the Justice Palace in Qamishli over the removal of Kurdish-language signs from the judicial complex in Hasakah.