Riyad al-Turk: A Prominent Syrian Politician's Life, Imprisonment, and Political Contributions

2024-01-03 11:08:17

Riyad al-Turk is a Syrian politician, and one of the most prominent opponents of the Syrian regime and the rule of the Assad family, which led to his arrest and imprisonment for about 18 years during the reign of Hafez al-Assad, and two years under the rule of his son Bashar. He died abroad in the French capital, Paris, at the beginning of 2024.

Birth, upbringing and education

Riyad Al-Turk – nicknamed “Cousin” among his friends – was born in 1930 in the Syrian city of Homs, where he lived his childhood in an orphanage affiliated with the Islamic Charitable Society.

Al-Turk studied at the Faculty of Law at the University of Damascus, from where he obtained a law degree in 1958. At that time, he began his political activity.

Political experience

The Turks entered prison for the first time in 1952 for 5 months during the reign of Syrian President Adib Shishakli (leader of the third military coup in Syrian history). He was arrested for the second time in 1960, during the unification of Syria and Egypt, for 15 months.

He left Syria in 1963, immediately after the Baath Party took power, and returned to the country approximately two years later.

In the 1970s, Al-Turk assumed the position of Secretary-General of the “Syrian Communist Party – Political Bureau”, and he was banned by the Syrian regime at that time. Immediately after Bashar al-Assad took over the reins of power, the party’s name was changed to the “Syrian Democratic People’s Party.”

Al-Turk had opposed his party joining the National Progressive Front in 1972 (a coalition of organizations allied with the Arab Socialist Baath Party), then split a year later, establishing the “Syrian Communist Party – Political Bureau.” Before stepping down from his position in 2005.

During the rule of Hafez al-Assad, who assumed the presidency of the country following a military coup headed by the Baath Party, Al-Turk was arrested in 1980 in a solitary confinement cell without trial because of his criticism of the security method in which the country was run, and for his membership in the “Communist Party.” After 18 years of imprisonment, he was released from detention in 1998, sick and affected by the conditions of detention.

In 2000, Al-Turk gave an interview to Al-Jazeera, during the death of Hafez al-Assad, and described him during the interview as a “dictator.” He was thrown into prison for two and a half years under pressure from Anisa Makhlouf, who demanded that her son Bashar be arrested. His health conditions deteriorated before he was released at the end of the year. 2002.

In the year of his arrest, he had written an article entitled “So that Syria is not a Kingdom of Silence,” in which he criticized the amendment of Article 83 of the Syrian Constitution to suit Bashar al-Assad’s age to assume power.

A year and a half after his release, he said, “I left the small prison to the big prison, and we must all strive to open its doors. I will not give up my right to practice politics, whatever the circumstances. I welcome prison if it is the price for adhering to opinion and freedom of expression.”

Riad Turk in a debate on October 28, 2003 at Amnesty International headquarters in Paris (French)

Damascus Spring

At the beginning of the millennium and immediately after the death of Hafez al-Assad, about 100 Syrian intellectuals and artists called on September 26, 2000 for the release of political prisoners and the abolition of the state of emergency that had been declared in 1963. This movement represented the beginning of the political awakening among Syrians.

Since the beginning of the “Damascus Spring” and the country was breathing some freedom until February 2001, the country witnessed relative changes, with a degree of freedom of expression and the establishment of unofficial political forums, which were soon closed after the arrest of 10 opponents of the regime, so the “Spring” ended quickly.

On October 16, 2005, the Syrian opposition launched the “Damascus Declaration,” a document signed by a number of political forces and civilian figures opposed to the regime, in which it called for an end to Assad’s rule and the establishment of a pluralistic democratic system with the lifting of the state of emergency, and the Turks were one of its signatories.

The regime immediately responded to the statement with a series of widespread arrests of many opponents, including Al-Turk, who was arrested in 2001. It launched a campaign of repression against those who signed the statement, increased state control over citizens, and the army tightened its grip and suppressed opponents in an attempt to stop the popular movement.

The State Security Court sentenced Al-Turk to two and a half years in prison on charges of “assaulting the constitution, delivering speeches with the intention of disobedience and inciting discord, spreading false news that weakens the nation’s resolve and morale, and the misdemeanor of undermining the prestige of the state.”

With the outbreak of the Syrian revolution in March 2011, the Turk announced its full support for it and its support for the peaceful movement against the Syrian regime. One of the most prominent things he said during that year was, “Our revolution is peaceful, popular, and rejects sectarianism, and the Syrian people are one. No concessions or negotiations.”

He refused to leave Syria at the beginning of the revolution, but after his life became threatened, he left it in 2018 to Turkey in disguise, as the Syrian regime was pursuing him for his activities opposing the authorities, before settling in France.

Positions and responsibilities

He was a contributor to the establishment of the Syrian National Council between 2012-2014.
He was a member of the Syrian National Transitional Council, which served as an interim government in areas liberated from the Syrian regime.
He was Secretary-General of the third wing of the Syrian Communist Party – Political Bureau.