Kurds in Syria and Iraq Use Language to Resist Arabization, but May Need to Push Harder

Kurdish students, parents and teachers in northeastern Syria are protesting a decision to end full Kurdish-medium schooling, arguing that it does not protect their language rights.

For more than a decade, Kurdish authorities in eastern Syria provided instruction in Kurdish. That system developed after the region was largely cut off from Damascus during the civil war, while the Assad government had previously suppressed Kurdish-language education. A generation of young people grew up studying in Kurdish.

The arrangement is now changing. The area, previously administered by the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria and defended by the Syrian Democratic Forces, is set to come under Damascus after an agreement dissolved the Kurdish forces.

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a clear constitutional violation

The dispute carries a practical as well as cultural concern. Students educated mainly in Kurdish may struggle to advance without Arabic, while reducing Kurdish instruction is viewed as a reduction of Kurdish rights. The article argues that bilingual education could offer a middle ground, but says the question of how students will reach national examinations and universities remains unresolved.

A similar concern appears in Iraq, where a Kurdistan Regional Government official warned of demographic changes in Khanaqin, a disputed Kurdish-majority city in Diyala province. He called those changes “a clear constitutional violation.” The article points to Iraq’s Kurdistan Region as an example of an autonomous education system that can serve local communities while maintaining universities and opportunities for young people.

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Kurdish students, parents and teachers rallied in northeast Syria's Rojava region on Monday against a Syrian government decision to end full Kurdish-medium schooling, arguing it falls short of their demands for language rights.