ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Residents of northeast Syria’s Kurdish-majority city of Kobane are planning a protest on Thursday after a new sign bearing the Arabic name "Ayn al-Arab" was installed at the town’s entrance, prompting outcry over what they perceive as undermining the city's Kurdish identity.
"We are asking to keep the name Kobane in official statements, not Ayn al-Arab," journalist Ridwan Bezar told Rudaw's Shivan Mesi on Wednesday. "The name of our campaign is 'Kobane is identity, Kobane is not Ayn al-Arab.'"
"We will continue [to protest] until the name ‘Ayn al-Arab’ is removed and only Kobane remains," resident Sheikh Nebi said.
The dispute comes amid broader tensions over the implementation of Kurdish identity and language rights in northeast Syria amid the ongoing integration of the Kurdish administration of Rojava into Syrian state institutions following Syrian President Sharaa’s appointment at the onset of 2025 and subsequent efforts to ‘restore national unity.’
A January agreement between Damascus and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) was established to ensure the inclusion of commitments to Kurdish rights. However, Syrian authorities removed and replaced Kurdish signage with Arabic from the Justice Palace billboard in the Kurdish-majority city of Hasaka in May, triggering protests.
Kobane’s residents assert that the issue extends beyond the name-change, describing the adoption of new signage as an assault on its identity, heritage, and collective memory.
“We will continue until our demands are met—until the will of the people of Kobane and the Kurdish people is respected,” said Nebi, “until the name ‘Kobane’ is no longer enclosed in quotation marks.”
The Democratic Union Party (PYD), the governing coalition in northeast Syria’s Rojava, expressed opposition to the move and has reached out to the Syrian government.
"The party is holding meetings with the government. We want the particular identity of the Kurdish areas to be respected and for the name to remain," PYD official Ismail Samo told Rudaw.
Rudaw requested comment from the local administration. Its media office declined the request and no official explanation was provided for the new sign.
Journalists and civil activists have called for a demonstration march on Thursday from Peace Square to Free Women's Square under the slogan, "Kobane is identity, Kobane is not Ayn al-Arab."
