15 May has been celebrated as Kurdish Language Day since 2006. The date dates back to the first publication of Hawar (The Cry) magazine in 1932. Published in Damascus, the magazine is considered the school of Kurdish publishing and played an important role in the history of the Kurdish language.

Hawar magazine, which was first published on 15 May 1932 in Damascus and went on to print a total of 57 issues until 1943, is considered as a milestone in terms of Kurdish cultural writing. This cultural revolution initiative, led by Celadet Alî Bedirxan and his comrades 90 years ago, continues to inspire Kurdish language and culture studies today.

On 15 May 1932, the first issue of the magazine and a new page on Kurdish language studies was opened in Damascus under the leadership of Celadet Ali Bedirxan, Kamûran Bedirxan, Qedrîcan, Osman Sebrî, Cegerxwîn and Nûredîn Zaza.

The magazine was the first Kurdish literary magazine in Syria and was published on a monthly basis.

Although Hawar magazine first started using the Arabic alphabet, later, by a radical decision, other issues were published using the Latin alphabet.

In the first issue of Hawar, Celadet Ali Bedirxan wrote: "Hawar is the voice of knowledge. Knowledge is self-knowledge. Knowing yourself opens the way to liberation and beauty. Anyone who knows himself can also introduce himself. Our Hawar will introduce the existence of our language first of all. Because language is our main reason for existence. Hawar is a newborn and is the child of our Kurds."

Hawar magazine featured articles mainly in Kurdish, Arabic and French. There were 3-4 pages of French in each issue.

The first pages of the magazine included the writings of Celadet Ali Bedirxan and Kamûran Ali Bedirxan. After the 4th issue, new authors started to write in the journal. These writers would later become important names in Kurdish literature.