On Kurdish Language Day, calls grow for official recognition in Syria
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – On Kurdish Language Day, Kurdish linguistic and academic circles in Syria on Wednesday renewed calls for the formal recognition of the Kurdish language in Syria’s future constitution, alongside proposals to establish a Kurdish language academy in Damascus.
Kurds mark the occasion annually on May 15, commemorating the 1932 publication in Damascus of Hawar magazine, a milestone in Kurdish literary and linguistic history.
Linguists and academics say the future of the Kurdish language in Syria requires not only cultural acknowledgment but also clear constitutional and legal guarantees ensuring the right to mother-tongue education and regulating the presence of Kurdish in official and educational institutions.
From Qamishli, Viyan Hassan, co-chair of the Kurdish Language Foundation, told North Press that Kurdish demands focus on “recognizing the right to mother-tongue education in the Syrian constitution and designating Kurdish as an official language, not merely a national one.”
Hassan explained that the distinction carries broad legal and administrative implications, noting that adopting Kurdish as an official language “would lead to the formal use of Kurdish in education and in the administration of institutions in Kurdish areas.”
She added that the educational reality in predominantly Kurdish regions is already closely tied to the language, after years of Kurdish-language curricula in schools and universities. “Hundreds of thousands of students have studied in Kurdish from primary school through university. The language cannot be reduced to two teaching hours per week,” she said.
She also revealed ongoing efforts to establish a Kurdish language academy in Damascus, similar to the Arabic Language Academy in Damascus, to oversee the development, regulation, and activities of the Kurdish language in Syria.
“Kurdish was banned for decades in Syria. Today there is a real need for official institutions to develop and manage the language,” Hassan noted, describing the initiative as part of a broader framework of “national integration” that recognizes Syria’s linguistic and cultural diversity.
For his part, Kurdish linguist Rustam Ali said the Syrian government has not yet taken practical steps regarding Kurdish-language curricula or activities, despite ongoing discussions about Kurdish cultural rights.
He stressed that Kurdish holds a distinct and important status in Kurdish-majority areas and called on the government to formally recognize the language in schools and institutions in those areas.
Observers say the Kurdish language file has become one of the key issues in discussions over Syria’s future state structure, as Kurdish demands increasingly link cultural rights to constitutional and political guarantees rather than symbolic or temporary administrative recognition.