According to KurdPress, eight parties that are members of the consultative meeting of Syrian Kurdish parties issued a statement calling for the elimination of the effects and consequences of the Arab Belt policies in the country and the return of the original Kurdish names to cities, villages and geographical areas in Syrian Kurdistan.

According to Rudaw Network, the statement emphasized that during the Baath regime, numerous discriminatory and racist policies were implemented against the Kurdish people. According to the signatory parties, the implementation of the "Arab Belt" plan and the exceptional census were among the most important tools of these policies, which were used with the aim of destroying the national and cultural identity of the Kurdish people.

According to the statement, within the framework of these policies, the Baath regime changed the historical names of cities, districts, villages, mountains and rivers in Kurdish-populated areas in order to transform the historical identity of these areas.

Responsibility of the new Syrian government

The Kurdish parties continued to emphasize that the fall of the Baath regime has placed a historical responsibility on the shoulders of the new Syrian government. They demanded that all legal, political, and cultural effects left by the previous government be eliminated and that the injustices committed against all ethnic groups, especially the Kurdish people, be compensated.

The most important demands of the Kurdish parties

The statement of the eight Syrian Kurdish parties includes the following demands:

Returning the original Kurdish names to cities, districts, villages, and other historical places and officially using these names in government documents, maps, and institutions.

Abolishing all laws and decisions that paved the way for the implementation of the Arab Belt policy and changing the names of Kurdish-populated areas.

Forming a national and independent committee consisting of experts in history, geography, language, and representatives of different regions to determine the historical names scientifically and officially.Place the consequences of the Arab Belt policy within the framework of transitional justice and compensation for the spiritual and cultural damages inflicted on the Kurdish people.

Guarantee the protection of linguistic and cultural diversity in the principles of the new Syrian constitution.

Complete abolition of the “Arab Belt” plan, restoration of the rights of the residents of the areas covered by this plan, compensation for the victims and restoration of the situation to its previous conditions.

A step towards peace and justice

The parties signing the statement emphasized that the restoration of historical names is not just a symbolic demand, but a historical right and a fundamental step towards achieving national peace, justice and building a democratic Syria.

The statement also states that the future of Syria requires a complete distancing from discriminatory policies, identity change and cultural erasure, and a new approach based on justice, equality and recognition of national and cultural diversity must be adopted.

The statement was published today in the city of Qamishlo and was signed by eight Syrian Kurdish parties