The Damascus Declaration () was a statement of unity by

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

n opposition figures issued in October 2005. It criticized the Assad regime as "

authoritarian Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in democracy, separation of powers, civil liberties, and ...

totalitarian Totalitarianism is a political system and a form of government that prohibits opposition from political parties, disregards and outlaws the political claims of individual and group opposition to the state, and completely controls the public sph ...

and cliquish," and called for "peaceful, gradual," reform "founded on accord, and based on dialogue and recognition of the other."Wright, Robin, ''Dreams and shadows, the Future of the Middle East'', Penguin Press, 2008, p.232-4 The five-page document was signed by more than 250 major opposition figures as well as parties "both

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian hi ...

and religious,

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

and

Kurd Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...

ish." It was considered important that the statement included the

Muslim Brotherhood The Society of the Muslim Brothers ('' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar, Imam and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna in 1928. Al-Banna's teachings s ...

group of Syria, in addition to secular groups.Syriancomment, May 15, 2006
/ref>The statement called for a "fair solution for the Kurdish issue in Syria in a way insures the equality of Kurds with all other Syrian citizens". Syrian journalist and activist Michel Kilo launched the declaration, after the Syrian writer and thinker Abdulrazak Eid had written its first draft. Riad Seif, another democracy activist, was the first signatory. The "five small opposition groups" signing the declaration were the Arab nationalist National Democratic Rally, the Kurdish Democratic Alliance, the Committees of Civil Society, the Kurdish Democratic Front and the Movement of the Future. Twelve members of the Damascus Declaration National Council were sentenced to two and a half years in prison in October 2008. During the Syrian civil war, members of the Damascus Declaration who had remained in Syria participated to the

National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change The National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change (NCC), or National Coordination Body for Democratic Change (NCB) (), is a Syrian coalition of Syrian opposition to Bashar al-Assad, opposition movements formed at the onset of the Syrian ...

while others who operated from abroad joined the Syrian National Council and later the Syrian National Coalition.

Member groups

Syrian Democratic People's Party The Syrian Democratic People's Party () is a centre-left, democratic opposition party in Syria. It is a member of the Syrian opposition, a member of the National Democratic Rally (Syria), National Democratic Rally, and a participant in the Damasc ...

* Movement for Justice and Development in Syria *National Liberal Alliance *

Arab Socialist Movement The Arab Socialist Movement (- ) also known as Arab Socialist Party, was a political party in Syria that has split into several factions since the 1960s which continue to use the same name. History The Arab Socialist Movement traced its roots ...

* Arab Revolutionary Workers Party

Former member groups

Muslim Brotherhood of Syria The Muslim Brotherhood in Syria () is the Syrian branch of the Sunni Islamist Muslim Brotherhood organization. Its objective is the transformation of Syria into an Islamic state governed by Sharia law through a gradual legal and political pro ...

* Democratic Socialist Arab Ba'ath Party * Assyrian Democratic Organization * Kurdish Democratic Party in Syria (el-Partî) * Kurdish Democratic Progressive Party * Kurdish Democratic Unity Party in Syria * Democratic Union Party *Kurdish Democratic Equality Party in Syria

References

External links

Damascus Declaration (eng)
{{Syrian Civil War 2005 documents 2005 in Syria October 2005 in Asia Political activism Human rights in Syria Defunct political party alliances in Syria Syrian opposition Ba'athist Syria Cliques

Member groups

Former member groups

See also

References

External links