QAMISHLI, Syria (Reuters) - After being self-governing for a decade, Syria's Kurds fear the apparent rapprochement between Damascus and their rival, the Turkish government, will cause them to lose their hard-earned lifestyle.

Before the outbreak of the conflict in Syria, the Kurds, who number about two million people, were not allowed to learn the Kurdish language in schools or celebrate their cultural events.

A year after the outbreak of the Syrian uprising in 2011, government forces withdrew from areas in the north, paving the way for the Kurdish-led "autonomous administration" to control its own institutions, including schools where the Kurdish language is taught.

But many in the so-called self-administration say they could lose their new rights if the Syrian government reconciles with Turkey - which has backed the opposition against President Bashar al-Assad since 2011 and attacks Kurdish-run Syrian areas, which Ankara sees as a threat to national security.

Suleiman Abu Bakr, 55, a resident of the Autonomous Administration area, said, "If this agreement occurs, it will be a fatal blow to the Autonomous Administration, which was founded on the system of equality, democracy and freedom."

Four sources told Reuters last week that these concerns stem from a clear improvement in relations between Damascus and Ankara, with Moscow's blessing. Any normalization between Ankara and Damascus would reshape the decade-long Syrian war.

The head of Turkish intelligence held secret talks in Damascus this month. The Turkish foreign minister also encouraged reconciliation between opposition militants and the government, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would have liked to meet Assad if the latter had attended a summit last week in Samarkand.

The mother tongue is in danger

Any discussions between Turkey and Syria are likely to revolve around the 3.6 million Syrian refugees still residing in Turkey. Erdogan wants to start returning to their country before preparing for re-election next year, but discussions may also touch on agreements on security and governance in the north.

For the 45-year-old teacher, Dalal Muhammad, the Kurdish language could be erased, as both Ankara and Damascus oppose its teaching in schools.

"We fear that the rapprochement between Turkey and Syria will lead to the persecution of some residents of this region, including the erasure of the Kurdish culture and mother tongue after all we have accomplished during the past 10 years," she said.

While Turkey is an avowed enemy of the Autonomous Administration, Syria's Kurds have engaged in a tense dialogue with Damascus while maintaining good relations with Moscow and the US-led coalition fighting jihadists in Syria.

Saleh Muslim, one of the heads of the Democratic Union Party, the main party in the Autonomous Administration region, said Russia may also have turned on the Kurds now.

He added that all this comes at the invitation of Russia, which encourages this rapprochement.

For Delphine, a shopkeeper, any agreement between the two rivals means her daughter will not enjoy living under the short-lived autonomy she experienced in the northern Syrian city of Kobani.

She told Reuters that this will lead to the elimination of the Autonomous Administration, and in this case, everything will change for the Kurds.

She added that the change would include "the way we work, the language that is taught to our children, and the currency. We believe that all of Turkey's efforts are aimed at getting rid of the Autonomous Administration - nothing more, nothing less."