DAMASCUS - Syrian interim leader Ahmad al-Sharaa on Friday issued a decree affirming the cultural, linguistic and civic rights of Syrian Kurds, as tensions rise between the authorities and Kurdish-led forces in Aleppo and its eastern countryside.
According to state news agency SANA, the decree underscores that Syrian Kurds are an "integral and authentic" component of the Syrian nation and recognizes Kurdish as a national language.
The decree commits the state to protecting cultural and linguistic diversity, allows Kurdish to be taught in schools in Kurdish-majority areas as an optional subject or cultural-educational activity, and prohibits ethnic or linguistic discrimination or incitement.
It restores citizenship to Kurds left stateless by the 1962 census in Hasakah province and designates Nowruz, a festival marking the first day of spring on March 21 and widely celebrated by Kurds, as a paid national holiday.
The announcement coincides with heightened tensions between the authorities and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) around Aleppo.
In a statement on Syria's state TV channel al-Ikhbariya, the Syrian military authority said that it had begun responding to what it described as positions belonging to militias allied with the SDF in the city of Deir Hafer.
"These sites are legitimate military targets," the statement said, adding that the army would take all necessary measures to protect civilians and prevent further attacks on Aleppo and its surroundings.
The SDF, for its part, said Deir Hafer was under intense artillery shelling by Damascus-affiliated forces, describing the bombardment as a serious escalation. In a brief statement, the group said the shelling was ongoing at the time of reporting, amid rising targeting in and around the city.
Aleppo Governor Azzam al-Gharib said that as the confrontations continue, around 27,450 civilians have fled the Kurdish-held areas of Deir Hafir and Maskanah toward Aleppo city and its countryside in recent days.
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Also on Friday, the Kurdish-led SDF said that its forces would withdraw from current contact lines with government forces east of Aleppo to advance military integration talks with the authorities.
In a post on social media platform X, SDF General Commander Mazloum Abdi said the withdrawal -- scheduled for 7:00 am local time (0400 GMT) on Saturday -- comes in response to calls from "friendly countries and mediators" and is a "goodwill gesture" toward completing the integration process outlined in an agreement reached in March of last year.
Abdi added that his forces would reposition east of the Euphrates River.
The announcement follows two days of intensified clashes and shelling in eastern Aleppo countryside, including areas around Deir Hafer and Maskanah, which Syrian authorities had declared closed military zones.
The March agreement, brokered under international mediation, aims to integrate SDF-controlled forces and institutions into the Syrian state framework. Yet its implementation has been repeatedly stalled amid mutual accusations of violations and renewed violence.
Syrian officials have not yet issued a response to the SDF announcement.
