The Syrian National Democratic Alliance (, al-Tahaluf al-Watani al-Demokrati al-Suri, TWDS) is a

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

multi-ethnic political party established in 2014 in northern

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 ...

. The alliance was founded during the Syrian Civil War and the war has considerably affected its policies to become very critical of

totalitarianism 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 s ...

and extremist beliefs. However the party is "ready to build bridges with the parties that recognize the right of Syria's components in general and the Kurds in particular", according to party leader Alaeddine Khaled. The party has 5 politicians in the Democratic Assembly of the

Democratic Federation of Northern Syria The Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES), also known as Rojava, is a ''de facto'' autonomous region in northeastern Syria. It consists of self-governing sub-regions in the areas of Jazira, Euphrates, Raqqa, Ta ...

and the party leader, Ahmad Araj, is one of the seven members of the Executive Council.

History

On 7 February 2016, the first conference of the party was held. The alliance closely coordinates with the Syrian Alliance for Freedom and

Human Rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

and the Syrian Revolutionary Left Current. Since then, the

Northern Democratic Brigade The Northern Democratic Brigade () is a Free Syrian Army unit that is closely allied to the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units, YPG and Women's Protection Units, YPJ in Afrin Region since 2014. Led by Abu Omar al-Idlibi, Absi Taha, Alexander ...

has also ''de facto'' joined the TWDS. On 11 March 2017, after negotiations between the Syrian National Democratic Alliance, the political council of

Idlib Idlib (, ; also spelt Idleb or Edlib) is a city in northwestern Syria, and is the capital of the Idlib Governorate. It has an elevation of nearly above sea level, and is southwest of Aleppo. It is located near the border with Turkey. History ...

, and the

Army of Revolutionaries The Army of Revolutionaries (), also known as ''Jaysh al-Thuwar'', is a multi-ethnic armed Syrian rebel coalition that is allied with the primarily Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and participating in the Syrian Civil War as part of th ...

, 80

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

from

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

-supported rebels were released from captivity by the

Syrian Democratic Forces The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is a Kurds in Syria, Kurdish-led coalition of U.S.-backed Left-wing politics, left-wing ethnic militias and rebel groups, and serves as the official military wing of the Democratic Autonomous Administration ...

. Between 24 and 25 May 2017, the second conference of the SNDA was held in

Afrin, Syria Afrin (; ) is a Kurdish majority city in northern Syria. In the Afrin District, it is part of the Aleppo Governorate. The total population of the district was recorded at 172,095 people, of whom 70,000 lived in the town of Afrin itself. The ...

under the slogan of "We are all partners". In course of the 2017 Northern Syria regional elections, the TWDS ran for 48 seats of the

Afrin Region Afrin Region (; ; ) was the westernmost of the three original regions of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. The region previously had two subordinate cantons, the Afrin Canton, consisting of the Afrin city area (with the ...

's councils, out of which it won eight.

References

{{Syrian political parties 2014 establishments in Syria Apoist organizations in Syria Communalism Federalist parties in Syria Libertarian socialist parties Political parties established in 2014 Political parties in Syria Political parties in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria Socialist parties in Syria Syrian democracy movements Syrian opposition groups