The Kurdish regions of Syria are increasingly isolated from the rest of the war-ravaged country. While the regime keeps shelling strongholds of the mostly Arab rebels, it allowed the Kurds to form a transitional autonomous administration in November 2013. After more than 50 years of Baathist discrimination, the Kurds achieved what was completely inconceivable a year ago: the introduction of their language in state-run universities, announced Dec. 18. In November 2012, the Ministry of Education had ordered the temporary closure of all schools where the Kurdish language had been introduced upon an initiative of the Kurdish parties in the northeastern province of Hasakah.

Kurdish instruction in Syria is still an imperfect practice, limited to universities and using the Arabic alphabet, while Syrian Kurds use Latin letters. It is also widely perceived as a tactical move to win the support of the Kurds and the international community ahead of the Geneva II conference. Nonetheless, this academic reform is a positive indication of the capability of the Kurds to reverse the hostility of the regime toward their cultural and political demands. Kurdish nationalist aspirations have been omnipresent throughout the uprising, and the Kurdish public has largely come to accept an entente with the government for the sake of Kurdish interests.

"It is a positive step, but they decided to adopt the Arabic alphabet, even though in Syria we use the Latin letters. This means they never consulted our people before making this decision. It's simply imposed from above," Yekiti Kurdi Party member Badran Masto told Al-Monitor in a Skype interview from Ras al-Ain.

"The Arabic alphabet is not capable of ‘absorbing’ the Kurdish phonetics, as already proven by Badarkhan's works. The regime claims to collaborate with the Kurdish Institute of Paris — how is this possible if all of their works are in Latin letters?" asked Piroz Perik, a freelance journalist from Ras al-Ain now based in Turkey, in a Skype interview. Ali Jaladat Badarkhan was an editor who standardized the Kurdish language using the Latin alphabet in the 1930s. Badarkhan's Kurdish is read in Syria and Turkey, but a Perso-Arabic alphabet is currently used by Kurds in Iraq and Iran. "The regime insists on turning the Kurdish language into an expression of the Arab culture," continued Perik.