پولات جان Polat Jan

Kurdish Author and Politician. MSc (International Relations).

[پولات جان Polat Jan @PolatCanRojava]

FROM FORBIDDEN LANGUAGE TO PUBLIC EDUCATION: Remembering a Historic Step in 2012

On May 9, 2012, for the first time in the modern history of Syria and Western Kurdistan (ROJAVA), Kurdish language education entered government schools.

This historic initiative was launched by the Confederation of Kurdish National Students (Xwendekar) together with the Kurdish Language Foundation (SZK). It began in Kobani before gradually spreading to other cities across Western Kurdistan.

The decision was taken during the founding conference of Xwendekar on March 27, 2012, in Aleppo, where dozens of university students were prepared for this effort. I was honoured to serve among the coordinators of Xwendekar involved in organising and leading this initiative during that period.

The first school where we introduced Kurdish lessons was also my own primary school in Kobani, a place where our language had once been forbidden inside the classroom.

At the time, the Syrian regime still controlled most of the country. There was no Autonomous Administration and no July 19 Revolution in Rojava yet. Even many Kurdish political actors and activists were uncertain about such a step and feared its consequences under the security conditions of that period.

For us, this was not only about teaching a language. We believed that Kurdish had to reclaim its place inside educational institutions and that the barriers and prohibitions imposed on it for more than seventy years had to be broken. In schools where even speaking a single Kurdish word could lead to punishment, introducing Kurdish lessons inside official classrooms was itself a historic act.

Despite opposition from some Ba'ath-affiliated school administrations, Kurdish pupils experienced, for the first time, the joy of learning and writing in their mother tongue inside public schools. In many classrooms, students repeated Kurdish letters and songs with excitement, while some teachers quietly joined the lessons themselves.

Looking back today, this was not simply an educational initiative. It was an early grassroots step towards reclaiming language, identity, and cultural rights, helping lay the foundations for the Kurdish schools, institutes, and universities that emerged in later years.

Today, after all this long journey, hundreds of thousands of Kurdish students study in their mother tongue across different levels of education. The so-called new authorities in Syria must respect the Kurdish people’s political will, language, and culture, and formally recognise the Kurdish educational system and all certificates, diplomas, and official documents issued by schools and universities in Rojava since 2012.

[پولات جان Polat Jan @PolatCanRojava]

Trump’s “The Kurds Take, Take, Take” Remarks and the Kurdish Question

First, what exactly did the Kurds gain from all these wars and partnerships?

Over the past century, the Kurds have suffered tens of thousands of casualties in wars against terrorism, dictatorship, and the many campaigns launched against them by Saddam Hussein, Iran, Syria, and Turkey. Hundreds of thousands of Kurds have been killed, displaced, imprisoned, or wounded. But what did the Kurds ultimately receive in return? Did they gain freedom? Independence? The right to self-determination?

What kind of support did the Kurds actually receive? Were they given fighter jets, tanks, artillery systems, air defence systems, drones, or meaningful long-term guarantees? NOOOO. In most cases, support was limited to light weapons, ammunition, limited military coordination, and some financial assistance.

What did the Trump administration offer the Kurds during its first and second terms?

In 2017, when more than 90 percent of voters in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq supported independence in a referendum, the Kurdish leadership expected at least political understanding from its Western partners. Instead, Kurdish areas were attacked by Iraqi forces and Iranian-backed groups using American-made weapons, while the United States and the wider international community largely stood aside.

Then, in early 2018, the Trump administration effectively allowed the Turkish invasion of Afrin. Hundreds of thousands of Kurds were displaced from the region following the operation.

In 2019, after direct communication between President Trump and Erdoğan, Turkey launched another military operation against Serê Kaniyê and Grê Spî in Rojava (northeastern Syria). Large parts of the region came under Turkish control after the withdrawal of American protection from the area.

For years, Kurdish forces in Rojava served as the primary partner of the United States and the international coalition in the war against ISIS. Thousands of Kurdish fighters lost their lives in that struggle. Yet many Kurds believe that, once ISIS was territorially defeated, Western priorities changed and Kurdish concerns became secondary.

Today, after all these experiences, Kurdish groups in Rojhilat (Irani Kurdistan) are being accused of disappointing Washington because they refused to enter another dangerous conflict without guarantees regarding their future political status and protection.

But from the KURDISH PERSPECTIVE, this caution is understandable.

The Kurds are not mercenaries. Kurdish blood is not cheap, and the lives of Kurdish youth are not for sale. The Kurds are fighting for their freedom, dignity, and political rights, not to serve the temporary agendas of regional or international powers without any clear outcome for the Kurdish people themselves.

At the same time, the Kurds have repeatedly shown their willingness to cooperate in fighting terrorism, extremism, and instability in the Middle East. Kurdish forces played a central role in the defeat of ISIS and contributed greatly to regional security. But cooperation must be based on mutual respect, clarity, and long-term political understanding.

I do not know the accuracy of the recent claims regarding weapons allegedly sent to protesters inside Iran. If such operations truly existed, then the American side should clearly explain which group, force, or individuals received those weapons. A nation of tens of millions of people should not be collectively accused through vague and unverified statements.

The Kurds do not claim that the American people are enemies of the Kurdish people. Nor is this a rejection of international cooperation. Rather, many Kurds are expressing frustration with repeated political experiences in which Kurdish sacrifices were welcomed during conflict but forgotten once larger geopolitical priorities changed.

For this reason, Kurdish groups in Rojhelat are approaching the current situation with caution. The lessons of recent history remain very fresh, especially after the experiences of Iraqi Kurdistan and Rojava. Any future cooperation must involve clear guarantees, realistic political understandings, and serious consideration for the future and security of the Kurdish people themselves.

[پولات جان Polat Jan @PolatCanRojava]

The fate of Kurdish youth should not be to die at the hands of their enemies.

[پولات جان Polat Jan @PolatCanRojava]

NEWROZA GELÊ KURD PÎROZ BE
نەورۆزتان پیرۆز بێت
HAPPY NEWROZ

[پولات جان Polat Jan @PolatCanRojava]

Two of my cousins, the brothers Dilsoz and Haqi, were martyred in Deir ez-Zor.
They left behind infant children, heartbroken wives, and a grieving mother.

[پولات جان Polat Jan @PolatCanRojava]

Oxir be…

[پولات جان Polat Jan @PolatCanRojava]

@LindseyGrahamSC: ‘ Today, @SenBlumenthal and I introduced the Save the Kurds Act.

I believe that there is strong bipartisan support for the idea of protecting the Kurds in Syria and beyond because they have been such a reliable ally to the United States. The SDF – with a large Kurdish element – took the brunt of the fight to defeat ISIS in President Trump’s first term.

I realize Syria is complicated culturally, ethnically and politically. However, attacking the Kurds greatly diminishes the United States’ standing and will hinder Syria’s ability to grow as a country.

To those countries or groups who believe it is open season on the Kurds in Syria without consequence, you will be sadly mistaken.’

[Lindsey Graham @LindseyGrahamSC]

Today, @SenBlumenthal and I introduced the Save the Kurds Act.

I believe that there is strong bipartisan support for the idea of protecting the Kurds in Syria and beyond because they have been such a reliable ally to the United States. The SDF – with a large Kurdish element – took the brunt of the fight to defeat ISIS in President Trump’s first term.

I realize Syria is complicated culturally, ethnically and politically. However, attacking the Kurds greatly diminishes the United States’ standing and will hinder Syria’s ability to grow as a country.

To those countries or groups who believe it is open season on the Kurds in Syria without consequence, you will be sadly mistaken.

https://t.co/TbwtGe5gu1

[پولات جان Polat Jan @PolatCanRojava]

WHY KOBANÎ AGAIN?

Today, on the eleventh anniversary of the liberation of the city of Kobani from the ISIS terrorists, Kobani has returned to the spotlight, and it is now under a severe siege by extremist Islamist groups affiliated with the so-called Syrian Arab Army, led by Abu Mohammad al-Jolani (Ahmad al-Sharaa), head of the jihadist authority in Damascus.

Today, Kobani is under siege. Jolani’s groups have cut off water, electricity, internet, fuel, and bread from the city. It is being attacked from three directions (west, south, and east), while the Turkish side is tightening the siege from its side. Every day, children die from the cold, especially as tens of thousands of Kurds who were displaced from Afrin, Aleppo, Tabqa, and Raqqa have gathered in Kobani, and they are subjected to artillery shelling by Damascus’s jihadist groups, as well as by Turkish drones that target civilians and children.

But why Kobani?
It should be noted that Kobani is a poor area. It has no oil fields, no mines of iron, copper, or gold, no diamonds, no trade routes, and no wealth. It is a poor region, and a large part of it is barren. Therefore, all these attacks on it since 2012 have no logic other than a mentality of revenge.

From 2012 until mid-2014, the Free Syrian Army, and then Jabhat al-Nusra, launched intensive attacks on Kobani and imposed a comprehensive siege on it, until ISIS took its turn and launched its brutal assault on 15 September 2014 with the aim of completely exterminating the Kurds.

Kobani, against all expectations, a poor and remote small city, managed with only light weapons and limited capabilities to stand up to ISIS, just as it had previously stood up to Jabhat al-Nusra (Jolani’s group), the Free Syrian Army, and other extremist factions. Kobani turned into an icon of resistance through the sacrifices of its people and its Kurdish women and men fighters. Kobani drew international public attention, and the war became a battle between global terrorism and human values in the world. It was a bone-breaking battle to the very end, and in the end, thanks to the courage of the Kurdish fighters (YPG, YPJ, Gerila and Peshmerga), the international rally around Kobani, and the Global Coalition support, Kobani was liberated on this day in 2015. The liberation of Kobani was the beginning of the end of ISIS’s terrorist caliphate.

ISIS, and the forces backing it, have not forgotten what Kobani did to them. The extremist terrorist factions have not forgotten it, tens of thousands of ISIS prisoners have not forgotten Kobani, and Jabhat al-Nusra and its leader Jolani have not forgotten Kobani.

Today, all those groups have regrouped again, including remnants of the Free Syrian Army, Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaeda elements, ISIS elements, and some extremist tribes, to attack Kobani once more in an attempt to take revenge on it.

Their main goal is the extermination of everyone in Kobani. If they take control of it, no one will remain alive, especially while the world today applauds Jolani, sprays him with perfume, and gives him money.

[پولات جان Polat Jan @PolatCanRojava]

سوپاس بۆ کوردانی باشووری کوردستان لە کوردستان و جیهان.

[پولات جان Polat Jan @PolatCanRojava]

“Kurds across Iraq and Syria are steadfast partners and should be treated as such. The world is much safer because of them”

[Brett McGurk @brett_mcgurk]

Northeast Syria is deeply concerning. The ceasefire must hold. Any security breakdown—especially at ISIS detention sites—risks international consequences. Kurds across Iraq and Syria are steadfast partners and should be treated as such. The world is much safer because of them. 🇺🇸

[پولات جان Polat Jan @PolatCanRojava]

The duties of comrades-in-arms

“Today, we look to our comrades-in-arms to be loyal and faithful to all our sacrifices and the historic successes which we achieved together. It is the duty of comrades-in-arms not to give up their friends and not to turn their backs on them, but rather to guarantee freedom and protection for them, their families and their land under formal international recognition. Only then will the comrades-in-arms have proven their loyalty, sincerity and justice.”

The Defense Post

https://t.co/TfaLx9a0uA

[پولات جان Polat Jan @PolatCanRojava]

It can be said that the German position toward the Kurds has largely been characterized by hostility and by supporting forces hostile to the Kurds over the past two centuries, starting with the participation and leadership of German generals in Ottoman military campaigns against the Kurdish emirates in the mid nineteenth century, and continuing with sustained support for the Turks in suppressing Kurdish movements through weapons, diplomacy, logistical assistance, and operational support, in addition to ongoing pressure on the Kurdish community in Germany.

The position of the German government in the war against ISIS and in supporting Kurdish fighters was also passıve and even negative, and there was hardly anything of significance apart from a few symbolic and minimal measures.

Since Hayat Tahrir al Sham reached Damascus, the German government has not stopped courting the terrorists controlling Damascus and providing them with diplomatic, media, and legal cover within the European Union. Only days after committing the most horrific crimes against the Kurdish people in the city of Aleppo, the terrorist al Jolani will be a guest in Germany, where they will shake his hands stained with the blood of thousands of Alawites, Druze, Kurds, and civilians in Syria, giving him a new boost of cover and encouragement to commit further crimes and massacres.

[پولات جان Polat Jan @PolatCanRojava]

الحل الأفضل للمنطقة يكمن في اللامركزية.

النماذج المركزية المشددة و خرائط سايكس-بيكو فشلت و تسببت في الكوارث و سفك الدماء و انهيار البلدان و ازدياد الشرخ بين الشعوب المختلفة في المنطقة.
سوريا والعراق و ايران و تركيا و ليبيا و السودان و اليمن و غيرها من الدول المركزية بحاجة الى إعادة صياغة أنظمتها وفق رؤى لامركزية يحفظ لجميع المكونات حقوقها وتمثيلها و آليات إدارتها لأنفسها.
الاصرار في النماذج الفاشلة هو اصرار على الاستمرار في الحروب و الدمار و التخلف.

[پولات جان Polat Jan @PolatCanRojava]

Sersala We Hemûyan Pîroz be
Happy New Year to all of you
عام سعيد و مبارك عليكم جميعاً