Syria
Viyan Hassan, co-chair of the Kurdish Language Institute (SZK), speaks to Rudaw in an interview on May 11, 2026. Photo: Screengrab/ Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The co-chair of the Kurdish Language Institute (SZK) said the institution’s main demand in ongoing talks with Damascus is to secure official status for the Kurdish language across Syria, arguing that mother-tongue education has strengthened both language use and Kurdish identity in the country’s northeast (Rojava).
In an interview with Rudaw's Nalin Hassan on Monday, Viyan Hassan said negotiations with the Syrian government continue on three key issues: official recognition of certificates issued by the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES), preparation of a Kurdish-language version of the national curriculum, and establishing a Kurdish language academy.
“Our demand - both to the Autonomous Administration officials who are negotiating and to the government - is for Kurdish to become an official language in Syria… so that obstacles before society are removed,” Hassan said.
The Syrian interior government recognized Kurdish as national language earlier this year but Kurds say a language spoken by millions should be recognized as an official language.
Hassan's remarks come as negotiations continue between Damascus and the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration following a landmark agreement signed late January after weeks of intense clashes between the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Syrian Arab Army.
Under the agreement, both sides committed to a permanent ceasefire and to integrating civil and military institutions in Rojava into the Syrian state.
Hassan said Kurdish-language education in Rojava has transformed schools after decades of restrictions under the Syrian regime.
“In the very same schools where it was once forbidden for us to speak even a single word of Kurdish, education is now completely conducted in Kurdish,” she said. “From primary schools to universities, education today is in Kurdish.”
She added that thousands of teachers have graduated and hundreds of thousands of students have studied in Kurdish, describing it as “a massive shift in education” made possible through mother-tongue education.
Hassan said the impact is visible not only in schools but in homes, where children are now teaching their parents Kurdish grammar and vocabulary.
“If you look at the Kurdish of our children today, it is more fluent than the Kurdish spoken by us or their parents. This is because they have studied in Kurdish,” she said.
She also argued that studying in Kurdish has strengthened confidence among younger generations. “A self-confident generation has been created that responds to the teacher very easily,” Hassan said. “What we see now is truly the direct influence of mother-tongue education on the students' character.”
Regarding Rojava’s talks with Damascus, Hassan said discussions have produced some consensus but no formal implementation.
“There is agreement on some points, but no official steps have been taken yet,” she said. “Negotiations are ongoing; we haven't reached a final decision yet, but the work continues.”
The SZK official said their top priority is for all certificates issued in Rojava to be recognized by Damascus, followed by a joint curriculum that includes Kurdish language instruction and preserves the distinct history, geography, and culture of Kurdish-majority areas.
She also said the institute is pushing for a national Kurdish language academy in Syria, similar to the Arabic Language Assembly in Damascus.
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