Zergan residents call for constitutional recognition of Kurdish

The city of Zergan witnessed a march attended by students, members of the Zergan Youth Organization and local residents, calling for the constitutional recognition of Kurdish as an official language in Syria. The demands aim to guarantee the linguistic and cultural rights of the Kurdish people and promote the principles of diversity and pluralism in the country.

During the march, a statement was read in Kurdish by student Jihan Nema and Riad Abdel Aziz, a member of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) Youth Organization.

The statement included, “The Kurdish language is an inherent right, and enshrining it in the Constitution is a step toward a democratic and pluralistic Syria. Its constitutional recognition is grounded in the principles of human rights, justice and equality, as well as peoples’ right to preserve their languages, cultures and identities.”

It added that Kurdish, as an indigenous language deeply rooted in Syria’s history and culture, deserves explicit constitutional recognition to ensure its protection, development and use across various fields. 

He noted that the recognition of Kurdish as a national language under Decree No. 13 of 2026 represents an important step toward acknowledging the cultural and linguistic rights of the Kurdish people. He stressed the need to build on this step by enshrining the status of Kurdish in Syria’s permanent Constitution and safeguarding its rights through clear and binding constitutional provisions.

The statement called for enshrining Kurdish in the Constitution and recognizing it as an official language in Syria alongside Arabic, reflecting the country’s ethnic and cultural diversity. It also called for guaranteeing the right of Kurdish citizens to receive education in their mother tongue and including Kurdish in school curricula, as well as ensuring their right to use the language in public institutions and local administrations.

The statement further stressed the need to protect Kurdish literary, cultural and artistic heritage, establish constitutional and legal safeguards against linguistic and cultural discrimination, and involve representatives of the various national, cultural, and linguistic components in drafting the permanent Syrian Constitution.

The statement stressed that recognizing the Kurdish language does not diminish the status of Arabic. Rather, it is a national and rights-based entitlement that strengthens trust among the people of the same country and helps consolidate the foundations of peaceful coexistence based on equality and mutual respect.

The statement concluded by emphasizing that the future Syria should be a homeland for all its people, where languages and cultures are preserved, identities respected, and rights protected on the basis of equal citizenship, free from exclusion and marginalization. It added that recognizing Kurdish in Syria’s permanent Constitution and guaranteeing the right of Kurdish people to learn, use and develop their language constitute a fundamental step toward building a democratic and pluralistic Syria, united in its territory, enriched by its diversity, and fair to all its communities.

ANHA