The Syrian Democratic People's Party ( ar-at, حزب الشعب الديمقراطي السوري, Hizb Al-Sha'ab Al-Dimuqratiy Al-Suriy) is a

centre-left Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The ...

, democratic opposition party in

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

. It is a member of the

Syrian opposition The Syrian opposition ( ar, المعارضة السورية ', ) is the political structure represented by the Syrian National Coalition and associated Syrian anti-Assad groups with certain territorial control as an alternative Syrian gover ...

, a member of the National Democratic Rally, and a participant in the

Damascus Declaration The Damascus Declaration ( ar, إعلان دمشق) was a statement of unity by Syrian opposition figures issued in October 2005. It criticized the Syrian government of the Assad dynasty as "authoritarian, totalitarian and cliquish," and called ...

. The party emerged in 1973 from a split within the

Syrian Communist Party The Syrian Communist Party ( ar, الحزب الشيوعي السوري, translit=al-Ḥizb aš-Šuyūʿī as-Sūrī) was a political party in Syria founded in 1924. It became a member of the National Progressive Front in 1972. The party spli ...

. Until 2005, it operated under the name Syrian Communist Party (Political Bureau), and was also known as the Syrian Communist Party (Riyad al-Turk) after its founder

Riyad al-Turk Riad al-Turk ( ar, رياض الترك, born 1930 in Homs) is a prominent Syrian opposition leader, former political prisoner for about 20 years in Syria, and supporter of democracy, who has been called "the Old Man of Syrian opposition." He was ...

. In 2005, the party announced its departure from communism and turned to

social democracy Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote s ...

. Today, the party is a member of the

Progressive Alliance The Progressive Alliance (PA) is a political international of social democratic and progressive political parties and organisations founded on 22 May 2013 in Leipzig, Germany. The alliance was formed as an alternative to the existing Socia ...

Origins and split from the SCP

The party was formed from a split in the

, beginning in the late 1960s with disagreements over

Arab nationalism Arab nationalism ( ar, القومية العربية, al-Qawmīya al-ʿArabīya) is a nationalist ideology that asserts the Arabs are a nation and promotes the unity of Arab people, celebrating the glories of Arab civilization, the language ...

and the authoritarian leadership of Khaled Bakdash. Radicals around

criticized Bakdash and asked for internal party democracy, as well as a more favorable view towards Arab nationalism and pan-Arabism. They later objected to the Bakdash leadership's decision to join the pro-government National Progressive Front (NPF) in 1972. Essentially the choice facing the Communists then was to submit to the leadership of the

Ba'th Party The Arab Socialist Baʿath Party ( ar, حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي ' ) was a political party founded in Syria by Mishel ʿAflaq, Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Bītār, and associates of Zaki al-ʾArsūzī. The party espoused B ...

in the NPF, which brought a variety of restrictions, or attempt to function outside the law. The old leadership of the party under Bakdash chose the former option; the more left-wing elements followed Riad al-Turk into opposition, finalizing the split in the party. Turk's faction took the name SCP (Political Bureau), but was also known by the name of its leader, as SCP (Turk).

In opposition

The party was able to operate reasonably effectively at first, although it was never very large, and for some time it negotiated over conditions of joining the NPF. However, Syria's intervention on the side of the

Maronite The Maronites ( ar, الموارنة; syr, ܡܖ̈ܘܢܝܐ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group native to the Eastern Mediterranean and Levant region of the Middle East, whose members traditionally belong to the Maronite Church, with the lar ...

militias and the Lebanese government against Arab nationalist and leftist Lebanese and Palestinian rebels, caused a firm break in relations. The SCP (Political Bureau) publicly and strongly condemned the intervention, provoking a crackdown from the government of

Hafez al-Assad Hafez al-Assad ', , (, 6 October 1930 – 10 June 2000) was a Syrian statesman and military officer who served as President of Syria from taking power in 1971 until his death in 2000. He was also Prime Minister of Syria from 1970 to 1 ...

. The party then engaged in active opposition to the government, and in 1979 participated in the creation of the National Democratic Rally (NDG), with four other leftist and nationalist opposition parties. It also, while itself renouncing violence, advocated dialogue with the

Muslim Brotherhood The Society of the Muslim Brothers ( ar, جماعة الإخوان المسلمين'' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( '), is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic studies, Islamic scholar and scho ...

and other

Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a dis ...

Islamists Islamism (also often called political Islam or Islamic fundamentalism) is a political ideology which posits that modern states and regions should be reconstituted in constitutional, economic and judicial terms, in accordance with what is c ...

, who would engage in an armed uprising against the government few years later. This led to a harsh campaign of political repression, culminating in 1980 with the arrest of al-Turk and numerous other party members. Turk was not released until 1998, and became known as one of Syria's most prominent prisoners-of-conscience. Central Committee member George Sabra was arrested during another government crackdown on the party in 1987 and was sentenced to eight years in

Sednaya Prison Sednaya Prison ( ar, سجن صيدنايا ''Sajn Ṣaydnāyā'') is a military prison near Damascus in Syria operated by the Syrian government. The prison has been used to hold thousands of prisoners, both civilian detainees and anti-government r ...

by a state security court.

After the death of Hafez Al-Assad

The party benefitted from the decreased political repression of the last two years of Hafiz al-Asad's rule and after his death, its members were very active in the Damascus Spring, a brief period of intense political and social debate that flourished in the second half of 2000 and in 2001. During this period, George Sabra, a party member since 1970 and Central Committee member since 1985, represented the party in the National Democratic Assembly, a coalition of leftist parties. Riyad al-Turk was arrested as the government stamped out most of this activity in the autumn of 2001, when he outraged the government's sensibilities by remarking on television that "the dictator has died", in reference to Hafiz al-Asad. He was imprisoned, but later released following international pressure. In 2005, the party held its clandestine sixth conference at which it adopted new rules and changed its name to the Syrian Democratic People's Party, signalling its adoption of western-style

as its ideology, rather than its previous Soviet-style Marxism-Leninism;Al-Bunni, V.A. (2013) ''An Analysis Of The Syrian Left Realities'', Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung since the early 1980s, it had been highly focused on democracy issues, and the 2005 conference essentially formalized a development long in being. The same year, party activists co-founded the

, a coalition of parties, human rights groups and pro-democracy activists named for their document demanding the country's transformation from a "security state to a political state" based on regular free elections, a democratic constitution, the rule of law, pluralism, and individual rights. Party leader Faeq al-Mir was arrested in December 2006 after being taped by Syrian intelligence agents calling Lebanese politician

Elias Atallah Elias G Atallah ( ar, إلياس عطا الله) (born 1947), is a Lebanese politician, and an elected member of parliament during the 2005 elections. He is also the chairperson of the Democratic Left Movement, and a prominent member in the M ...

to offer condolences for the death of Pierre Gemayel, Lebanon's Minister of Industry. Al-Mir was charged with "undertaking acts that weaken national sentiment during times of conflict" and "communicating with a foreign country to incite it to initiate aggression against Syria or to provide it with the means to do so" and sentenced to three years in prison.

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and s ...

adopted him as a prisoner of conscience and campaigned for his release. He was still missing in 2015.

During the Syrian Civil War

The Syrian government arrested three prominent members of the party, after the beginning of the popular uprisings in 2011; Ghias Youn Soud, the party secretary general, Omar Kashash, trade unionist from the city of

Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...

, and

Fahmi Yousef Fahmi (Arabic: فهمي) is an Arabic name in the possessive form of the word ''fahm'' (Arabic: فَهْم) which means "understanding, comprehension, knowing", and which stems from the verb ''fahima'' (Arabic: َفَهِم) meaning "come to know a ...

. They were all soon released. The party joined the

Syrian National Council The Syrian National Council (SNC; ar, المجلس الوطني السوري, ''al-Majlis al-Waṭanī as-Sūri'', french: Conseil national syrien), sometimes known as the Syrian National Transitional Council or the National Council of Syria ...

in 2011 through its participation in the Damascus Declaration. George Sabra was elected as the president of the National Council in 2012.

References

External links