ERBIL: The President of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, Nechirvan Barzani, on Saturday welcomed a new Syrian presidential decree recognising the country’s Kurdish population, Syrian state media reported.

Barzani described the move as a significant political and legal step toward building a new Syria, the Syrian Arab News Agency added.

In a statement, Barzani expressed support for efforts aimed at establishing a Syrian state that represents all its communities without discrimination or marginalization.

His remarks followed the issuance on Friday of a presidential decree by Syrian President Ahmad Al-Sharaa. 

The decree affirmed that Syrian Kurds are an integral part of the Syrian people and that their cultural and linguistic identity forms an inseparable component of Syria’s unified and diverse national identity, SANA reported.

The decree also formally recognized the Kurdish language and restores Syrian citizenship to all Kurdish Syrians.

The announcement came after clashes erupted last week in the northern city of Aleppo, leaving at least 23 people dead, according to Syria’s health ministry, and forcing more than 150,000 people to flee two Kurdish-run areas of the city. 

The fighting ended after Kurdish fighters withdrew and Syrian army forces retook control of the area.