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SYRIA
Riad al-Turk
Riad al-Turk was nominated fot the Ludovic-Trarieux
Award 1998
Riad
al-Turk (Arabic : رياض
الترك, born 1930 in Homs) is a prominent Syrian
opposition leader, former political prisoner, and supporter of democracy.
He was secretary general of the radical Syrian Communist Party (Political
Bureau) since its foundation in 1973 until 2005. In later years he has
moved from a democratic communist towards a liberal democrat.
Al-Turk joined the Syrian Communist Party while a student and as a
result was imprisoned for the first time in 1952. He later wrote articles
for the party newspaper, Al-Nour, and became a leading party ideologue.
He was imprisoned again in 1960 under Nasser when Syria joined with Egypt
in the United Arab Republic. Released in 1961, he had to take refuge in
Lebanon in 1963 when the Ba'th Party came to power in Syria but returned
when the left-wing Ba'thist regime of Salah Jadid took power in 1966.
Turk had for some time been leading a faction within the Communist
Party that demanded a more positive view of Arab nationalism, in
opposition to Secretary-General Khalid Bakdash, who ruled the party with
an iron fist. Along with
supporters on the radical wing of the party, Turk formed the Syrian
Communist Party (Political Bureau), consolidating a split that had been
apparent since the late 1960s. The SCP-Political Bureau initially
negotiated with the regime for terms of legalization and membership in
the Front. However, it later took a strong opposition stance, especially
from 1976 on after the Syrian intervention in favour of the Maronites
right-wing government in the Lebanese Civil War, and also began to focus
increasingly on pluralist democracy as the goal of its activity. This led
to repression of the party, which was stepped up at the beginning of the
1980s when the regime felt itself under increasing pressure from both
Islamists and the secular opposition.
Riad al-Turk has
been held since 1980 without charge or trial in connection with the
unauthorized Communist Party Political Bureau (CPPB). He has been held
almost completely without access to the outside world since his arrest --
he was seen only three times by his family during his 18 years' incarceration.
He had been detained as a prisoner of conscience without charge or trial
and mostly incommunicado from 1980 to 1998. Al-Turk was arrested and
imprisoned under very difficult conditions from 28 October 1980 to 30 May
1998, spending most of the period in solitary confinement and suffering
regular torture. He suffered considerable ill-health, including diabetes
for which he was refused treatment.
Riad al-Turk was
released from prison in 1998 after serving 17 years for his opposition to
late President Hafez al-Assad. After his release,
al-Turk was initially not particularly active politically. In 1998 he was
among the nominated for the International Human Rights Prize
Ludovic-Trarieux.
In June 2000, however, Syrian dictator Hafiz al-Asad died and his
son Bashar succeeded him. This was followed by an outburst of political
debate and demands for democratic changes, known as the Damascus Spring,
and al-Turk resumed a prominent role. His statement on al Jazeera
television in August 2001 that "the dictator has died" was seen
as a direct cause of renewed repression by an angered regime, and al-Turk
himself was arrested some days later, subjected to a trial widely seen as
unfair before a state security court, and was sentenced to two years
imprisonment. This led to international protests, especially given his
poor health.
Riad al-Turk
was re-arrested by the security forces on 1 September 2001 during a wider
crackdown on government critics. He was sentenced to two and a half years
in prison by the Supreme State Security Court on charges including
"attempting to change the constitution by illegal means" on 26
June 2002.
Al-Turk was released after serving fifteen months of his sentence,
and resumed his political activities. In spring 2005 the Syrian Communist
Party (Political Bureau) held a secret congress at which it decided to
change its name to the Syrian Democratic People's Party. At this
congress, Turk stepped down as party secretary, but he remains an
influential member of the organization. In the same year, he also emerged
as a prominent name in the Damascus Declaration, a pro-democracy
coalition of Syrian opposition activists and organizations.
IDHAE
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