In a significant shift, the state-owned Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) is preparing for a comprehensive relaunch this Wednesday, promising expanded multilingual services that notably include content in the Kurdish language, according to reports from Turkey's Anadolu Agency.

The rebrand, operating under the slogan “SANA: A Turning Point,” follows what the agency describes as an extensive restructuring process initiated after the fall of the long-ruling Ba’ath regime of Bashar al-Assad in early December.

The overhaul aims to modernize the official voice of the Syrian state, featuring upgraded infrastructure, a stronger digital media presence, and a wider network of correspondents within Syria and internationally.

SANA Director General Ziad Mahameed detailed the expansion to Anadolu, stating the agency will now produce content in English, French, Spanish, Turkish, and Kurdish. He emphasized that the initiative moves beyond simple translation, with plans to create original journalism tailored for native speakers of each language.

As part of its modernization drive, SANA has digitized its entire archive dating back to 1965, with intentions to monetize the historical resource. The agency also has ambitious plans to compete with other regional media giants within five years, including opening new bureaus in North America, Europe, and Asia.

The inclusion of Kurdish is a particularly notable development given the Syrian state’s fraught history with its Kurdish minority.

Kurds, numbering between 2.5 and 3.6 million, constitute Syria's largest non-Arab ethnic minority. For decades under the Ba’athist government, they faced systemic Arabization policies, including a ban on the Kurdish language in schools and public life.

This state repression shifted over a decade ago with the establishment of the Kurdish-led Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES) in the northeastern region of Rojava. There, Kurdish was elevated to an official language alongside Arabic and Syriac, with a new educational curriculum allowing instruction in students' mother tongues.

The rebrand announcement comes amid recent tensions. In mid-March, interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa signed a 53-article constitutional declaration that has been heavily criticized by Kurdish political parties.

The interim document reinforces Arabic as the sole official language of the state and enshrines Islamic jurisprudence as a primary source of legislation. It also mandates that the country's president must be Muslim and maintains the official name as the Syrian Arab Republic.

Kurdish groups have condemned the constitution as exclusionary, arguing it effectively marginalizes their ethnic and linguistic identity and echoes the Arabization policies of the past. Furthermore, its design for a highly centralized government is viewed as a direct challenge to the decentralized, self-administered model practiced in Rojava.