The Social Democrat Hunchakian Party (SDHP) (Armenian: Սոցիալ Դեմոկրատ Հնչակյան Կուսակցություն; ՍԴՀԿ, romanized: Sots’ial Demokrat Hnch’akyan Kusakts’ut’yun), is the oldest continuously-operating Armenian political party, founded in 1887 by a group of students in Geneva, Switzerland.
[5] Among its founders were Avetis Nazarbekian, Mariam Vardanian, Gevorg Gharadjian, Ruben Khan-Azat, Christopher Ohanian, Gabriel Kafian, and Manuel Manuelian.
All seven founders of the party were Eastern Armenian Marxist students who had left Russian Armenia to further their education in various universities of Western Europe.
The party's manifesto, printed in the first issue of Hunchak journal, contained this slogan: "Those who cannot attain freedom through revolutionary armed struggle are unworthy of it".
During this period, many famous intellectuals joined Hunchakian party, including Smpad Piurad, Stepan Sapah-Gulian, Alexander Atabekian, Atrpet, and Aram Andonian.
[11] On 27 July 1890, Hunchakian activists Harutiun Jangülian, Mihran Damadian, and Hambartsum Boyajian headed Kum Kapu Affray in Constantinople, which demanded the implementation of reforms in the Western Armenian provinces.
In 1894, Sasun Resistance was organized by the Hunchak party under the leadership of Mihran Damadian, Hambartsum Boyajian, Kevork Chavush, and Hrayr Dzhoghk.
In these conflicts, the Armenian Democratic Liberal Party (ADL) was seen as a political ally on the side of the SDHP and in opposition to the ARF.
[12] The central committee concluded the meeting by reaffirming their readiness to support Armenia's statehood and advance national priorities.
In the midst of increasing sectarian strife in the late 1960s and early 1970s, which led to the Lebanese Civil War, however, Lebanon's Armenian community began to close ranks, and in 1972, the Hunchakian Party ran a joint ticket with the Dashnaks.
The party advocates for free education and healthcare, the promotion of human rights and equality, maintaining a strong democracy, protecting the environment, and creating a decentralized social economy.
Following the election, the Democratic Party of Armenia won just 0.39% of the popular vote, failing to win any seats in the National Assembly.
It was founded by Avetis Nazarbekian and published originally in Geneva and later in Montpellier and Paris (France), Greece, London, and Providence (United States), 1887–1915, 1935–1940.