Kurdish language department to open at Beijing Foreign Studies University

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Kurdish language department is set to open at Beijing Foreign Studies University in China in cooperation with the Kurdistan Region's Salahaddin University-Erbil, with course offerings in both major Kurdish dialects, the Kurdish university announced Tuesday.

“Salahaddin University-Erbil serves as the primary partner and coordinator for the opening of this department,” the university said in a statement issued on Tuesday.

Saman Abdullah, spokesperson of Salahaddin University, told Rudaw's Soran Hussein that the department is aimed at fostering interest among Chinese students and “will begin admitting students this year, with an expected enrollment of 10 to 20 students.” 

The program will provide comprehensive instruction in the two main dialects of the Kurdish language.

“The students admitted to the Kurdish department in China will study the Sorani dialect for the first three years and Kurmanji in the fourth year,” Abdullah said. “This is to ensure that graduates have a comprehensive understanding of the different dialects and branches of the Kurdish language.”

Salahaddin University said the establishment of the first-ever Kurdish department in the country will also serve as an academic and cultural bridge between the Kurdistan Region and China, further strengthening educational ties between the two.

Eleven students have registered for the upcoming academic year and will study Sorani Kurdish over a four-year program. The department is the 103rd foreign language studies department at the university.

The move comes amid a growing expansion of academic and economic collaboration between the Kurdistan Region and China in recent years. 

Salahaddin University opened Iraq and the Kurdistan Region’s only Chinese language department in 2019, which saw the enrollment of 100 students in its Chinese language department, according to Abdullah, with 2026 marking its third cohort.