Rojava University students call for protection of university autonomy

The Rojava University Council organized a lecture on Tuesday in the city of Qamishlo under the title “From Initiative towards Protecting the University and Our Right to Education”. The event aimed to discuss the university's future amid the ongoing integration process between the Autonomous Administration and the Syrian transitional government.

The lecture was held in the university auditorium and attended by dozens of students. It focused on four main topics: assessing the university's current situation within the integration process, identifying students' shared demands, examining the role of the initiative to protect Rojava University announced by the university administration, and developing future plans.

During the lecture, Aryan Ahmed, a member of the Rojava University Student Council, spoke about the 29 January Agreement, noting that it included clear provisions on protecting the autonomy of Kurdish areas, their language and their institutions. She questioned why the transitional government was evading the implementation of some of the agreement's provisions.

She also addressed the integration process, particularly the aspects concerning Rojava and Kobani universities, saying that their autonomy had not been taken into consideration. She stressed that students shared a unified position and would not accept an integration process based on absorbing Rojava University into another institution. She said, “We will continue our struggle to the very end to protect Rojava University and its autonomy.”

Students' demands

The lecture also featured contributions from students, who unanimously emphasized the importance of language. They said, “We want Rojava University to retain its name and not become affiliated with al-Furat University. After all these years of studying in Kurdish, It would not be right to force us to study in Arabic..”

They also highlighted the university's historical significance, stressing that it “was built with the blood of martyrs, and we will not accept their sacrifices to have been in vain”.

The lecture concluded that protecting the university was primarily the responsibility of the students themselves. It also stressed that the initiative announced by the university administration should develop into a broad student movement, setting out clear demands and planning peaceful steps to defend the right to education in one's mother tongue and the autonomy of Rojava University.

ANHA