exercise. Until the final months, he was not allowed a book, newspaper, mail or anything else to keep his mind occupied." For the first thirteen years of his imprisonment he was allowed no communication from, or information about, his friends and family, including his two young daughters. His "only activity was being allowed three times a day to go to a shared toilet." He was never allowed to use it when other prisoners were there but did scrounge the toilet bin for discarded clothing as his own clothing was worn out. One of his few diversions was collecting grains of dark cereal he found in the thin soup he was served in the evening and using the grains to create pictures in his cell. He suffered considerable ill-health, including diabetes for which he was refused treatment. He was released on 30 May 1998. After his release in 1998, al-Turk was initially not particularly active politically. In June 2000, however, Syrian president Hafiz al-Asad died and his son Bashar succeeded him. This was followed by an outburst of political debate and demands for democratic changes, known as the Damascus Spring, and al-Turk resumed a prominent role. His statement on al Jazeera television in August 2001 that "the dictator has died" was seen as a direct cause of renewed repression by an angered government, and al-Turk himself was arrested some days later on September 1, 2001, subjected to a trial widely seen as unfair before a state security court. In June 2002 he was sentenced to three years imprisonment for `attempting to change the constitution by illegal means.` This led to international protests, especially given his poor health. Al-Turk was released after serving fifteen months of his sentence, and resumed his political activities. In spring 2005 the Syrian Communist Party (Political Bureau) held a secret congress at which it decided to change its name to the Syrian Democratic People's Party. At this congress, Turk stepped down as party secretary, but he remains an influential member of the organization. In the same year, he also emerged as a prominent name in the Damascus Declaration, a pro-democracy coalition of Syrian opposition activists and organizations. References Further reading Riad al-Turk Interview: 11 March 2005, Joshua Landis, Syria Comment, 19 March 2005 Gary C. Gambill, Dossier: Riyad al-Turk, Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, 2009 1930 births Anti-government politicians of the Syrian civil war Living people People from