Syria UN envoy rules out reversal on Kurdish rights, praises Kurdish leaders

Namo Abdulla

NEW YORK - Syria’s ambassador to the United Nations said Friday there will be no reversal on the recognition of Kurdish rights and praised Kurdish leaders in northeast Syria (Rojava) following recent tensions over the Kurdish language in the country.

Authorities in Rojava recently handed over Hasaka’s Justice Palace to Damascus as part of an integration process. However, the interim government removed a signboard that included Kurdish and replaced it with one in Arabic and English, sparking protests.

“First of all, we're very happy with the Kurdish official reactions to this, of speaking to their own constituents, explaining that this is not a matter of politics, it's a matter of how signs look like in Syria,” Ibrahim Olabi, Syria's permanent representative to the UN, told Rudaw, adding, “We have recognized the language.”

The Democratic Union Party (PYD), the ruling party in Rojava, said last week that adding Kurdish alongside Arabic on signboards of state institutions in the region would strengthen, not weaken, Damascus.


“I really commend the maturity of a lot of Syrian Kurdish leaders” on how they have handled the situation, emphasizing that “There is no going back in terms of recognition of rights.”

Kurds later removed the newly installed signboard, and when another was placed showing Arabic only, it was also taken down. Demonstrations continued outside the Justice Palace for several consecutive days, with demands that Kurdish be included alongside Arabic on official signage.

The developments come despite Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa issuing a decree in January aimed at providing linguistic and cultural rights for Kurds, designating Kurdish as a national language and allowing it to be taught as an “elective” course in Kurdish-populated areas.

The decree followed international backlash after the Islamist-led Syrian Arab Army’s brutal campaign in January targeting areas held by the Kurdish-led forces, during which Syrian fighters were documented committing human rights violations against the Kurdish population. Damascus forces and allied armed groups captured areas previously controlled by the SDF in eastern Aleppo, Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor, and Hasaka provinces.

A landmark January 29 agreement between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Damascus was reached after weeks of clashes and was brokered with US mediation through Special Envoy Tom Barrack, alongside Kurdish political figures from the Kurdistan Region.