# Syrian Communist Party

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Political party in Syria (1944–1986)

For other uses, see [Syrian Communist Party (disambiguation)](/source/Syrian_Communist_Party_(disambiguation)).

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Syrian Communist Party الحزب الشيوعي السوري Founder Khalid Bakdash Founded 1944 Dissolved 1986 (1986) Preceded by Syrian–Lebanese Communist Party Succeeded by Split into two factions: the Syrian Communist Party (Unified) and the Syrian Communist Party (Bakdash) Ideology Communism Marxism–Leninism Political position Far-left National affiliation National Progressive Front Party flag Politics of Syria Political parties Elections

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The **Syrian Communist Party** ([Arabic](/source/Arabic_language): الحزب الشيوعي السوري, [romanized](/source/Romanization_of_Arabic): *al-Ḥizb aš-Šuyūʿī as-Sūrī*) was a [political party](/source/Political_party) in [Syria](/source/Syria) founded in 1944 as a division of the [Syrian–Lebanese Communist Party](/source/Syrian%E2%80%93Lebanese_Communist_Party), which later split into the Syrian Communist Party and the [Lebanese Communist Party](/source/Lebanese_Communist_Party).[1]

In 1972, it became a member of the [National Progressive Front](/source/National_Progressive_Front_(Syria)), the coalition of parties sanctioned by the [Ba'athist regime](/source/Ba'athist_Syria). The party split in two in 1986 with two separate parties claiming to represent the original Syrian Communist Party; the [Syrian Communist Party (Unified)](/source/Syrian_Communist_Party_(Unified)) and the [Syrian Communist Party (Bakdash)](/source/Syrian_Communist_Party_(Bakdash)).

## Beginnings

The party evolved out of the [Communist Party of Syria and Lebanon](/source/Syrian-Lebanese_Communist_Party), founded in [Beirut](/source/Beirut) in 1924. It was suppressed shortly afterwards, but was revived after an interlude of several years. In 1936, [Khalid Bakdash](/source/Khalid_Bakdash), a [Damascene](/source/Damascus) who had been recruited to the party in 1930 and later studied at the [Communist University of the Toilers of the East](/source/Communist_University_of_the_Toilers_of_the_East) in [Moscow](/source/Moscow), took control as secretary of the party, and set about building up its organisation.[2]

## Bakdash's leadership and organisational growth

The party was involved in opposition to the [Vichy French](/source/Vichy_France) presence in Syria, and when the [Free French](/source/Free_French) took control of the country it was legalised. In 1944, the Syrian and Lebanese parties became separate organisations. Bakdash sought to present the Syrian Communist Party as an essential part of the national movement, in the context of Syria's struggle against the French [mandate](/source/League_of_Nations_Mandate). The party adopted a moderate programme and opened its ranks to all those accepting it, rather than functioning as a restricted [Leninist](/source/Leninist) vanguard organisation. It built up a significant support base among the working class, Kurds and intellectuals.

In 1954, after a series of military dictatorships that had lasted since 1949, Syria became a democracy, and in the elections held that year, Khalid Bakdash won a seat in parliament for the Damascus area, becoming the first communist elected to an Arab parliament.[3] The party was cautious about proposals to unify Syria with [Gamal Abdal Nasser](/source/Gamal_Abdal_Nasser)'s Egypt, the main political question of the 1950s in Syria. The [Egyptian Communist Party](/source/Egyptian_Communist_Party) was banned under Nasser, and communists and other leftists had been jailed in large numbers. However, popular desire for unity was such that the party felt it could not afford to oppose it outright.

## Suppression under Nasser and the Ba'ath and tolerance by the Neo Ba'ath 1958–1970

The [United Arab Republic (UAR)](/source/United_Arab_Republic) was formed in February 1958. Toward the end of 1958, a campaign of repression against the party began. Nasser was provoked to action by a harshly critical statement made by Bakdash, who called for transformation of the UAR into a loose federation. Communists were imprisoned and in some cases killed.[4]

The union ended in 1961 when a [coup](/source/1961_Syrian_coup_d'%C3%A9tat) led to Syria's secession. The Communist Party was strongly identified with the secessionist tendency and suffered a loss of popular support and membership as a result. Worse was to follow, when the pro-unification coup of 1963 brought a military-based government consisting largely of [Ba'thists](/source/Ba'th_Party) and [Nasserists](/source/Nasserism) to power and the party was once again repressed.

In 1966, the Syrian Ba'ath's secret military committee took power, and implemented a far-left line. Bakdash was allowed to return from Moscow, but forbidden from engaging in public political activity.

## Legal operation in the National Progressive Front from 1972

In 1970, [Hafez al-Assad](/source/Hafez_al-Assad) came to power in Syria and announced his intention of allowing limited political pluralism in the context of [popular democracy](/source/Popular_democracy). This took the form of the [National Progressive Front](/source/National_Progressive_Front_(Syria)), established in 1972. Only parties participating in the Front would be allowed to operate: to join, they were required to accept the socialist and Arab nationalist orientation of the government. The Ba'th Party was guaranteed leadership of the Front and the new constitution, promulgated the same year, provided that it would "lead society and the state". Furthermore, only the Ba'th would be allowed operate in the armed forces and among university students.

Faced with the choice between accepting these restrictions and the prospect of illegal operation, Bakdash and the majority of the party chose to join the Front. The more radical elements in the party were unhappy about participation in the Front. However, the breaking point did not come until 1976 and the Syrian intervention in the [Lebanese Civil War](/source/Lebanese_Civil_War) on the side of rightist, [Maronite](/source/Maronite)-led elements against the nationalist bloc and its allies in the [Palestine Liberation Organization](/source/Palestine_Liberation_Organization). This was too much for the radicals, and [Riyad al-Turk](/source/Riyad_al-Turk) led them into opposition. His faction was termed the [Syrian Communist Party (Political Bureau)](/source/Syrian_People's_Democratic_Party) or Syrian Communist Party (Riyad al-Turk).[5]

## The 1980s: repression and split

During the early 1980s, the Syrian government clamped down on political activity and the Communist Party was subject to severe restrictions, despite its participation in the NPF. It was prevented from publishing its newspapers *Nidhal ash-Sha'b* ("the People's Struggle") and *an-Nour* ("the Light"), and its activities were closely monitored by the security services. It effectively operated underground throughout most of the 1980s, with membership lists a closely guarded secret. In 1986, the anti-communist crackdown ended and the ban on the communist party was lifted by Assad as a concession to the Soviets.[6]

In 1986, Bakdash and deputy secretary [Yusuf Faisal](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yusuf_Faisal&action=edit&redlink=1) differed over the policies of [perestroika](/source/Perestroika) and [glasnost](/source/Glasnost) adopted by [Soviet Communist Party](/source/Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union) general secretary [Mikhail Gorbachev](/source/Mikhail_Gorbachev). Faisal was supportive of Gorbachev's reforms, while Bakdash was opposed. This led to another split in the party, with many of the party's intellectuals leaving with Faisal to the [Syrian Communist Party (Unified)](/source/Syrian_Communist_Party_(Unified)) while much of its Kurdish base remained supportive of Bakdash in the [Syrian Communist Party (Bakdash)](/source/Syrian_Communist_Party_(Bakdash)).[7]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEVelasco_Muñoz2019109_1-0)** [Velasco Muñoz (2019)](#CITEREFVelasco_Muñoz2019), p. 109.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Britannica_2-0)** ["Khalid Bakdash"](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Khalid-Bakdash). *Britannica*. Retrieved 28 December 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Khalid Bakdash elected to Syrian parliament"](https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,936433,00.html). *Time*. 11 October 1954. Retrieved 28 March 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-brti_4-0)** ["United Arab Republic (U.A.R.)"](http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/615447/United-Arab-Republic-UAR). *Encyclopædia Britannica*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20120814103230/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/615447/United-Arab-Republic-UAR) from the original on 2012-08-14. Retrieved 2012-08-24.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEVelasco_Muñoz2019118–120_5-0)** [Velasco Muñoz (2019)](#CITEREFVelasco_Muñoz2019), pp. 118–120.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Federal Research Division (2004). [*Syria A Country Study*](https://books.google.com/books?id=B9L9ZWtnYsgC&q=scp+temporarily+banned+by+assad). Kessinger Publishing. p. 217. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1-4191-5022-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-4191-5022-7). Retrieved 2011-05-12.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Guide to Syrian Political Parties"](https://heystacks.com/doc/342/syrian-civil-war-factions). Retrieved 28 March 2023.

## Sources

- Velasco Muñoz, Rosa (2019). "The Syrian Communist Party". *In: Communist Parties in the Middle East: 100 Years of History*. Oxford: Routledge. pp. 109–128. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780367134457](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780367134457).

v t e Political parties in Syria Popular Front for Change and Liberation People's Will Party Unrepresented Democratic People's Party Communist Labour Party Syrian Turkmen Assembly Syria Turkmen Bloc Syrian Democratic Turkmen Movement Democratic Socialist Arab Ba'ath Party Arab Revolutionary Workers Party Kurdistan Democratic Party of Syria Syriac Union Party Democratic Arab Socialist Union Movement for Justice and Development in Syria Democratic Union Party National Youth Party Kurdish Future Movement Kurdish National Alliance in Syria Reform Party of Syria Defunct parties National Bloc National Party National Union People's Party League of Nationalist Action Arab National Party Arab Ba'ath Party Arab Ba'ath Movement Syrian–Lebanese Communist Party Syrian Communist Party Arab Liberation Movement Socialist Cooperation Party Arab Communist Party Ba'ath Party (Iraqi-dominated faction) National Salvation Front in Syria Banned Parties Islamist Hizb ut-Tahrir Muslim Brotherhood in Syria National Progressive Front Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party pan-Arab organization Syrian Social Nationalist Party Arab Socialist Union Party Socialist Unionist Party Syrian Communist Party (Bakdash) Syrian Communist Party (Unified) National Covenant Party Arab Democratic Union Party Democratic Socialist Unionist Party Social Democratic Unionists Arab Socialist Movement Kurdish parties Kurdistan Democratic Party of Syria Democratic Union Party Kurdish National Council Kurdish Supreme Committee Kurdish Future Movement Kurdish National Alliance in Syria Kurdish Democratic Progressive Party Assyrian parties Assyrian Democratic Organization Syriac Union Party Assyrian Democratic Party Portal:Politics List of political parties Politics of Syria

v t e Major communist parties in the Middle East Bahrain Egypt Iran TPI CPI WCPI CPI-MLM OIPFG Iraq Israel Jordan Lebanon Palestine PPP PCP PFLP Saudi Arabia Syria SCP Bakdash SCP Unified Defunct parties in italics See also: Communism portal

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Syrian Communist Party](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_Communist_Party) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_Communist_Party?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.