Kurds Return to Afrin, Celebrating Nowruz

0:00I'm Cory with the story, and this is your pulse of the world. Global news today. Hundreds of Kurds are returning to their homes in Syria's affin region after eight years in exile. They fled during a Turkish offensive in 2018 that targeted Kurdish fighters. Now, they're celebrating the ancient spring festival of Naurahs openly for the first time, thanks to the Syrian government's recent decision to make it, a national holiday. This comes after a deal between the government and Kurdish-led forces to integrate them into the National Army. The agreement also paves the way for displaced Kurds to reclaim their properties in Afrin, where many Arab families had settled during the Civil War. Earlier this month, 400 families made the journey back from Northeastern Syria. For attorneys like Abdul Rahan Omar, the homecoming stirs mixed emotions. He spent years away in Aleppo, missing his village, but finding it changed with old neighbors gone. Still, young Kurds like Angelia Hajima express hope, crediting negotiations that ease tensions

1:02and allowed safer turns. The new Syrian leadership under interim president Ahmad al-Sharah has boosted Kurdish rights with a key decree. It recognizes Kurdish as an official language alongside Arabic, where stores citizenship to tens of thousands stripped away decades ago, and ends past. Bands on cultural events, under the old Assad regime, such celebrations were secret and risky. These changes mark a shift after years of marginalization, bringing cautious optimism as more families I have returned to their roots and a freer. Expression of their identity.