Why Recognising the Kurdish Language Matters. A Moment That Goes Beyond Words
Recognition of Kurdish as official sparks cultural and social transformation for Syria and the Middle East.
Language is never just a means of communication. It is identity, memory, access, and belonging. Across the Middle East, few languages embody this reality more clearly than Kurdish, a language spoken by tens of millions, yet for decades excluded from formal recognition in several countries where it has been spoken for generations.
Today, that reality has shifted.
The recent Syrian presidential decree recognising Kurdish as an official language marks a defining cultural and social moment, not only for Syria’s Kurdish citizens, but for the region as a whole. It signals a move away from exclusion and toward acknowledgment, inclusion, and institutional legitimacy.
A Language That Refused to Disappear
Spoken by an estimated 30–40 million people, Kurdish is one of the largest languages in the world without a nation-state of its own. It belongs to the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family, making it linguistically closer to Persian than to Arabic or Turkish.
Despite decades of political pressure, Kurdish endured—spoken at home, preserved through poetry and music, and passed down orally when formal education was not an option. Its survival was not accidental; it was resilience.
Dialects, Scripts, and Geography
Kurdish is not a single uniform language, but a continuum of dialects, shaped by geography and history:
-
Kurmanji (Northern Kurdish)
The most widely spoken dialect, used by most Kurds in Syria and Turkey, is written in the Latin alphabet. -
Sorani (Central Kurdish)
Spoken mainly in Iraqi Kurdistan and western Iran, written in an Arabic-based script, and fully institutionalised in Iraq. -
Pehlewani (Southern Kurdish)
Used in parts of Iran and Iraq, less standardised and often orally transmitted. -
Zazaki (Dimli)
Spoken mainly in eastern Turkey, written in Latin script, linguistically distinct but culturally Kurdish.
These differences matter. Language recognition is not symbolic; it requires clarity in education, administration, and digital systems.
From the Margins to the State
For decades, Kurdish in Syria existed outside formal institutions. It was absent from public education, official documents, and state media. Yet it survived through community effort and cultural expression.
The new decree changes that equation. By recognising Kurdish officially, Syria moves the language from the private sphere into public life, where it can be taught, documented, preserved, and used without apology.
Why This Matters to the Region
From a regional perspective, this step reflects a broader truth: unity does not require uniformity. Multilingual societies are often more resilient, more representative, and better equipped for long-term stability.
For Syria, the decision is also a message to its citizens and to the region that inclusion strengthens nations rather than weakening them.
More Than a Language Decision
Ultimately, this is not only about Kurdish. It is about what happens when a state chooses recognition over denial, inclusion over exclusion.
Languages do not disappear quietly. They either fade through neglect, or flourish through recognition. With this decree, Kurdish takes a decisive step toward the latter.
And history may well remember this moment not simply as a linguistic reform, but as a signal of a more inclusive future, spoken, written, and finally acknowledged.