Khalid Bakdash

Bakdasch Khalid ( Khalid Bagdash, Arabic خالد بكداش, DMG Halid Bakdāš, * 1912 in Damascus, Ottoman Empire, † 1995) was from 1936 until his death the chairman of the Communist Party in Syria.

1954 was Bakdasch the first member of a communist party, who was elected to an Arab parliament. Since then, he has been called the " dean of Arab communism." He was of Kurdish origin and Sunni Muslim faith.

Policy

Bakdasch was 1936 Chairman of the Syrian - Lebanese Communist Party, which he remained until their split in the Syrian and Lebanese Party 1944. From then on, he became chairman of the Syrian Communist Party and was exposed with time repression of various dimensions. However, in 1972, when President Hafez al -Assad wanted to introduce a multi-party system, Bakdasch was inducted into the National Progressive Front, a coalition of pro-government parties under the auspices of the Baath Party. In 1986, a faction split off under Yusuf Faisal, who supported the idea of perestroika in the Soviet Union, which was rejected by Bakdasch itself. Many intellectuals then left the party. Especially the strong Kurdish base but kept to Bakdasch and formed the Bakdasch Group.

Swell

• Collelo, Thomas. In 1988. Syria, A Country Study. (ISBN 0-16-001690-8 )
• Washington Report on Middle Eastern Affairs
• Speech before the Seventh Congress of the Comintern