Syrian transitional President Ahmed al-Sharaa issued Decree No. 13 of 2026, granting Syrian nationality to all citizens of Kurdish origin residing in Syria, including those listed as “unregistered” (maktoumei al-qayd).
It also annulled all laws and exceptional measures resulting from the 1962 al-Hasakah census, according to the decree , issued on Friday, 16 January.
The decree declared a national holiday for Nowruz, celebrated by Kurds on 21 March, describing it as a day of fraternity and spring.
The decree stated that Syrian Kurds are an essential, authentic part of the Syrian people, and that their cultural and linguistic identity is an inseparable part of Syria’s diverse, unified national identity.
It said the state is committed to protecting cultural and linguistic diversity, and guarantees the right of Kurdish citizens to preserve their heritage and arts and to develop their mother tongue within the framework of national sovereignty.
The decree also described Kurdish as a national language, allowing it to be taught in public and private schools in areas where Kurds constitute a notable proportion of the population, either as part of optional curricula or as a cultural educational activity.
It added that state media and educational institutions are required to adopt an inclusive national discourse. Any discrimination or exclusion on ethnic or linguistic grounds is legally prohibited, and anyone who incites ethnic strife will be punished under applicable laws.
In a speech before signing the decree, al-Sharaa opened with a Quranic verse: “We made you into peoples and tribes so that you may know one another. The most honorable of you in the sight of God is the most righteous of you.”
Al-Sharaa added, “There is no superiority for an Arab, a Kurd, a Turk, or anyone else except through fear of God and a person’s righteousness, whatever their ethnicity may be.”
He continued, “Our Kurdish people, descendants of Saladin, beware of believing that we wish you harm. By God, whoever harms you is our adversary until the Day of Judgment. Your life is our life. We want nothing but the well-being and unity of the country and its people, and development and reconstruction, and that no one deprive anyone of their share of this goodness.”
Al-Sharaa urged “everyone who was forced to leave their land” to return “safe and sound,” without “condition or restriction except laying down arms,” and called on Kurds to “participate effectively in building this homeland, preserving its safety and unity, and to reject anything else.”
Tensions in Deir Hafer
The presidential decree comes as tensions with an ethnic dimension have grown following events in Aleppo, where government forces expelled Kurdish fighters linked to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and as troop buildups and friction increased between the two sides around Deir Hafer (eastern Aleppo countryside, northern Syria).
The latest updates included the Syrian army’s Operations Directorate publishing maps of four locations in the area, warning residents against approaching them.
The directorate said the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), remnants of the former regime, and the SDF use these sites as launch points for “terrorist operations” targeting Aleppo and its eastern countryside, and as bases for launching drones.
These developments come amid the continued departure of civilians from Deir Hafer and Maskanah in the eastern Aleppo countryside, both under Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) control, into areas held by the Syrian government, with the two sides trading accusations of obstructing their exit.
Earlier, the Syrian army’s Operations Directorate announced a humanitarian corridor on the Deir Hafer axis in the eastern Aleppo countryside to allow civilians to leave SDF-held areas for government-controlled territory.
The directorate also urged civilians to stay away from all SDF positions within the previously designated area, warning that the army would take further measures to eliminate “any threat that affects the security of the region and citizens,” as it put it.
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