Rojava's ruling party says Kurdish signboards would strengthen Syria
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Democratic Union Party (PYD), the ruling party in the Kurdish region of northeast Syria (Rojava), said on Saturday that adding Kurdish alongside Arabic on signboards of state institutions in the region would strengthen, not weaken, Damascus. The statement came amid a public outcry after the interim government insisted on excluding Kurdish from the signboard of a justice palace in Hasaka province.
Authorities in Rojava recently handed over the Justice Palace in Hasaka to state officials as part of the integration process that followed an agreement reached earlier this year between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces and the government in Damascus after weeks of clashes.
However, the interim government last week removed a signboard on the building that included the Kurdish language and replaced it with one in Arabic and English. A group of Kurds, angered by the move, forcibly removed the new signboard. When the government installed another one on Saturday - this time only in Arabic - Kurds took it down as well.
"At the same time, we believe that excluding the Kurdish language from the justice palace signboard is inconsistent with the spirit of these agreements and with the path of national integration based on genuine partnership among all Syrians, in a way that preserves Syrian sovereignty and the unity of the country," the PYD said in a statement. Adding Kurdish to the signposts “represents a genuine strengthening of Syrian sovereignty and cannot be considered a weakening of it.”
The government made a similar move in Kobane in recent days but later added Kurdish to the signboards following public backlash. A signboard of the Justice Palace in Afrin - written in Arabic and Turkish - was widely shared by Kurds on Saturday, with many questioning why Damascus opposed the inclusion of Kurdish, a national language, while retaining a foreign language on the Afrin signboard.
Rudaw English could not independently verify whether the signboard containing Turkish remains in place.
Afrin came under the control of Turkey and allied Syrian factions in 2018 after Kurdish forces withdrew from the area.
The PYD called on Damascus and all Syrians "to move closer toward the concept of a democratic national state that remains neutral toward all national, ethnic, cultural, and religious components in Syria." It also reiterated that the Syrian interim constitution - which it said was "rushed and did not adequately or effectively reflect the will of Syria’s diverse components" - should be amended.
Authorities in Rojava recently handed over the Justice Palace in Hasaka to state officials as part of the integration process that followed an agreement reached earlier this year between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces and the government in Damascus after weeks of clashes.
However, the interim government last week removed a signboard on the building that included the Kurdish language and replaced it with one in Arabic and English. A group of Kurds, angered by the move, forcibly removed the new signboard. When the government installed another one on Saturday - this time only in Arabic - Kurds took it down as well.
"At the same time, we believe that excluding the Kurdish language from the justice palace signboard is inconsistent with the spirit of these agreements and with the path of national integration based on genuine partnership among all Syrians, in a way that preserves Syrian sovereignty and the unity of the country," the PYD said in a statement. Adding Kurdish to the signposts “represents a genuine strengthening of Syrian sovereignty and cannot be considered a weakening of it.”
The government made a similar move in Kobane in recent days but later added Kurdish to the signboards following public backlash. A signboard of the Justice Palace in Afrin - written in Arabic and Turkish - was widely shared by Kurds on Saturday, with many questioning why Damascus opposed the inclusion of Kurdish, a national language, while retaining a foreign language on the Afrin signboard.
Rudaw English could not independently verify whether the signboard containing Turkish remains in place.
Afrin came under the control of Turkey and allied Syrian factions in 2018 after Kurdish forces withdrew from the area.
The PYD called on Damascus and all Syrians "to move closer toward the concept of a democratic national state that remains neutral toward all national, ethnic, cultural, and religious components in Syria." It also reiterated that the Syrian interim constitution - which it said was "rushed and did not adequately or effectively reflect the will of Syria’s diverse components" - should be amended.