Ignoring Newroz is a Continuation of Ba'athist Policy in Syria, Says Syrian Kurdistan Front

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - In a move that has sent a chilling message to Syria's Kurdish population, the new Syrian interim government's decision to once again omit the ancient festival of Newroz from the list of official national holidays is being condemned as "clear evidence of the continuation of the same chauvinistic approach of the Ba'ath regime."

The Syrian Kurdistan Front, a prominent political group, issued a powerful statement on Monday expressing its deep concern over the new holiday decree, arguing that the failure to recognize Newroz is not merely an administrative oversight but a deliberate continuation of a decades-long policy aimed at erasing the identity, history, and cultural rights of the Kurdish people.

As Syria stands at a supposed turning point, grappling with the formation of a new, post-Ba'athist identity, this decision is being seen by many Kurds as a deeply troubling sign that the oppressive policies of the past have not been truly abandoned.

The controversy was ignited by Decree No. 188 of 2025, issued by Syrian Interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, which completely restructured the country's official public holidays.

As reported by the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), the decree abolished several long-standing Ba'ath-era commemorations, such as the anniversary of the 1973 "Tishreen Liberation War," and introduced new national occasions like "Liberation Day" and "Syrian Revolution Day" in a clear effort to reframe the state's political narrative.

However, while the decree was sweeping in its changes, its most significant feature for many Kurds was what it failed to include: any official recognition of Newroz, the traditional Kurdish new year celebrated on March 21.

In its statement on Monday, the Syrian Kurdistan Front decried this omission as a continuation of a familiar and painful policy of cultural suppression.

The Front argued that by not making the Newroz festival an official holiday and by continuing to refer to March 21st only as "Mother's Day," the new government is perpetuating the same policy as the previous Ba'athist regime, which "tried through this name to erase the symbol of Newroz and change its meaning to an artificial symbol."

The history of March 21 in Syria is a deeply charged and painful one for the Kurdish community. As detailed in previous reports by Kurdistan24, the Ba'athist regime, in its effort to enforce a rigid Arab nationalist identity, frequently banned or violently suppressed public Newroz celebrations.

The conflict reached a tragic climax on March 21, 1986, when Syrian security forces opened fire on a peaceful Kurdish gathering in Damascus, killing a young Kurdish man named Suleiman Muhammad Amin Adi. His death became a potent symbol of state violence against Kurdish identity.

Two years later, in a move widely seen by Kurds as a cynical act of political manipulation, then-President Hafez al-Assad issued a decree declaring March 21 a national public holiday, but under the new name of "Mother's Day." This was a deliberate co-opting of the date.

Before the Ba'ath party came to power, historical records, including a Syrian postage stamp from 1955, show that Mother's Day in Syria was celebrated on May 13. The Syrian Kurdistan Front's statement referenced this history, pointing out that "Mother's Day in Syria was on May 13th, while March 21st is the Newroz festival, which must be recognized as a national holiday throughout Syria."

The Assad regime's move was a calculated effort to overwrite the cultural and political significance of Newroz with a state-sanctioned, politically neutral holiday, thereby erasing a key pillar of Kurdish identity from the official national calendar.

The Syrian Kurdistan Front's statement argues that the new interim government, by failing to reverse this historical injustice, is proving that it "has not departed from the framework of the previous Ba'athist policies, but rather follows the same approach of denying the existence of Kurds and ignoring their historical suffering."

The statement drew a direct line from the current holiday decree to other infamous acts of state-sponsored discrimination, such as the extraordinary census of 1962, which arbitrarily stripped hundreds of thousands of Kurds of their Syrian citizenship, and the systematic policies of Arabization and demographic change that targeted the regions of Syrian Kurdistan, the devastating effects of which remain to this day.

In its call for justice and recognition, the Front's statement extended beyond Newroz to include another vital religious occasion for a segment of the Kurdish population.

"In the same context," the statement emphasized, "the statement emphasizes the necessity of recognizing the Yazidi New Year festival (Red Wednesday) as an official holiday for the Yazidi sisters and brothers."

It demanded that Yazidis be given the right to take a holiday on this day "as a sign of respect for the sanctity and the religious and spiritual status of this occasion, and on the basis of equality among all components of Syria and respect for their cultural and religious specificities."

The statement concluded with a stern warning to the new leadership in Damascus. The Syrian Kurdistan Front cautioned that "ignoring the national and religious symbols of the Kurdish people, especially the Newroz festival and the Yazidi New Year, does not serve the project of a new Syria that everyone hopes for."

The group framed the issue as a fundamental test of the new government's sincerity and its commitment to a pluralistic and democratic future. "Recognizing these occasions is considered a real test to prove the sincerity of the rhetoric about a new Syria built on the basis of equality, mutual respect, and historical justice for all components of the homeland."

As Syria attempts to forge a new path forward, the message from its Kurdish component is clear: a new Syria cannot be built on the foundations of the old chauvinism, and true national unity cannot be achieved by erasing the identities of its people. The flame of Newroz, they argue, must be recognized as a Syrian flame, not just a Kurdish one.