Demands for constitutional recognition of Kurdish people; their language in Syria persist

Demands for the constitutional recognition of the Kurdish people and the Kurdish language as an official language along with Arabic in Syria persist. This is seen as one of the most important steps in terms of guaranteeing the national and cultural rights of the Kurds in Syria.

In this regard, the writer and critic, Abdul Wahab Birani stated that the right to cultural and national identity of people is both a moral and a historical right that cannot be ignored. In addition, he stated that people require mutual recognition from the people who live alongside them. The Kurdish people are one of the oldest peoples of Mesopotamia and have a unique language, culture, and identity formed through thousands of years of time, as demonstrated by various historical, anthropological, and archaeological studies.

 According to Birani, the Kurdish people have been denied their national and cultural rights since the international treaties following World War I, most notably the Treaty of Lausanne and the Sykes-Picot Treaty. Moreover, according to him, the problem of political and cultural rights of the Kurds is still unsolved after the downfall of the Ba’ath regime.

Moreover, he pointed out that the current debate is basically restricted to cultural rights and acknowledgment of the Kurdish language as a national language, while the problem of constitutionalization of the Kurdish language as well as constitutional recognition of the Kurdish nationality is being overlooked. The Kurdish question thus remains unsolved.

Indeed, the January 29th agreement and the Decree No. 13 can be considered as positive moves in this respect, but they should be further developed into a permanent constitutional article in the future constitution of Syria.

From her point of view, Afaf Hasaki, an administrator within the Women’s Council of the Movement for a Democratic Society, said that Syria is now facing a very sensitive period, as Rojava is undergoing integration processes politically and socially. She pointed out that one of the main objectives of the 19th July Revolution was protecting the cultural and linguistic rights of the Kurdish people. She also insisted on the importance of recognizing those rights in the constitution to secure the existence of the Kurds politically and culturally, and avoid any change that may remove or violate them.

She also pointed out that mere recognition of the Kurdish people and language is not enough to protect their rights; only constitutional recognition can provide a legal protection against violating these rights in the future.

Her speech concluded with, "There have been many efforts from different parties who have wanted to alienate us from our language, culture and rights. We have however gone on with our fight and have stuck on to our identity. Our history is full of different revolutions and uprisings that asked for these rights since our language and culture is an integral part of our existence."

ANHA