Videos circulated online showed demonstrators taking down the newly installed sign from the courthouse facade and smashing it while chanting slogans against what they described as an attack on the Kurdish language, Enab Baladi reported.
The protest came as Syrian government officials and the Syrian Democratic Forces were moving ahead with arrangements to reopen the Justice Palace, part of broader understandings between the two sides over unresolved judicial and security files in northeastern Syria.
Demonstrators said the removal of Kurdish from the sign amounted to a violation of the cultural and national rights of Kurds and argued that the language is an essential part of Kurdish identity. A statement read outside the building said any infringement on the Kurdish language was an infringement on the existence of the Kurdish people and linked the move to pressure tied to the detainee file.
Kurdish language teacher Mohammad Hajo said keeping only Arabic and English on the sign was unacceptable, adding that the protest aimed to denounce a move seen by participants as dismissing a core element of the region’s identity.
The incident unfolded against the backdrop of recent meetings in al-Hasakah between Syrian government representatives and SDF officials focused on the justice system, detainees and local security arrangements. Local authorities said the understandings included plans to reactivate the Justice Palace within days and to work toward the release of more than 300 detained SDF fighters.
Parallel discussions were also held on military integration and security coordination as part of follow-up to the January 29 agreement between Damascus and the SDF. That agreement called for integrating military, security and service institutions linked to the Autonomous Administration into Syrian state structures, though implementation has faced obstacles, including a dispute in April over how the Justice Ministry would assume control of the judicial file in al-Hasakah.
Photo: The source