ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The state-owned Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) is bracing itself for a rebrand on Wednesday with expanded coverage and news services in several foreign languages, including Kurdish, Turkish state media reported.
Anadolu relayed that the relaunch will come under the slogan “SANA: A Turning Point,” following an extensive “restructuring process” that began after the collapse of the Ba’ath regime, led by longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad, in early December.
The overhaul includes modernized infrastructure, enhanced digital media operations, and an expanded network of correspondents both inside Syria and abroad, the agency added.
SANA Director General Ziad Mahameed told Anadolu that the transformation would extend to multilingual content offerings, including English, French, Spanish, Turkish, and Kurdish. He emphasized that SANA’s translation department will go beyond mere translations, producing original content tailored specifically for native audiences in those languages.
As part of the revamp, SANA has also digitized its archive, which dates back to 1965, with plans to monetize this resource. The agency is reportedly preparing to open new offices in North America, Europe, and Asia as part of its push to develop “modern capabilities” and compete with other regional media outlets within five years.
The inclusion of Kurdish-language content marks a significant development, particularly given Syria's fraught history with its Kurdish population.
International estimates place the Kurdish population in Syria at between 2.5 and 3.6 million - around 10 percent of the total population. Kurds are Syria’s largest non-Arab ethnic minority, primarily residing in three non-contiguous enclaves in northern and northeastern Syria, a region commonly known as Rojava. There are also sizable Kurdish communities in major cities like Damascus and Aleppo.
For decades under the Ba’ath regime, Kurds were subjected to systemic Arabization policies, with the Kurdish language banned from schools and public life. However, since the Kurdish-led Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES) began governing Rojava more than a decade ago, Kurdish has been made an official language alongside Arabic and Syriac. A new curriculum was also introduced that allows students to be educated in their mother tongue.
Yet recent developments have raised concerns among Kurdish communities.
In mid-March, interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa signed a 53-article constitutional declaration that reinforced Arabic as the sole official language and enshrined Islamic jurisprudence as a legislative foundation. The constitution mandates that Syria’s president must be Muslim and maintains the name of the country as the Syrian Arab Republic, with a five-year transitional period outlined.
Kurdish parties in Syria have criticized the interim constitution as exclusionary, arguing that it marginalizes Kurds by ignoring their distinct ethnic identity and language. Many have drawn parallels to earlier Arabization policies. Moreover, the document’s emphasis on a highly centralized government is seen as a direct threat to the decentralized, self-administered system established in Rojava.
