Damascus, June. 28 (SANA) Syria’s General Directorate of Civil Affairs at the Ministry of Interior announced on Sunday the commencement of the second phase of implementing Decree No. 13 of 2026, which consists of conducting administrative and legal interviews with applicants of Kurdish origin applying for Syrian citizenship.
The move follows the completion of the review and verification of applications approved by the competent committees.
Abdullah Al-Abdullah, Director-General of the Civil Status Directorate, said that Decree No. 13 specifies that eligibility for naturalization is limited to “Syrian Kurds residing within Syrian territory,” noting that these two criteria constitute the legal basis for accepting and reviewing applications.
He further said the General Directorate of Civil Affairs has launched an electronic application designed to organize the registration process and schedule interviews. The system assigns each applicant a specific appointment, ensuring an orderly appearance before the relevant committees.
Al-Abdullah stated that the interviews do not introduce additional eligibility requirements but are intended exclusively to verify the accuracy of the information provided and confirm the applicant’s personal attendance.
He further noted that Decree No. 13 does not apply to non-Kurds or to individuals who are not residing in Syria. Applications, he said, are examined to verify compliance with the decree’s eligibility criteria, and requests that do not meet those conditions will not be approved.
President Ahmad al-Sharaa issued Decree No. 13 on Jan. 17, 2026, affirming that Syria’s Kurdish citizens are an integral part of the Syrian people and that their cultural and linguistic identity forms an inseparable component of Syria’s diverse and unified national identity.
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