Social Democrat Hunchakian Party

The Social Democrat Hunchakian Party (SDHP), also known as Hentchak, Henchak, Social-Democratic Hentchakists, Huntchakians, Hnchakian, Henchags is one of the oldest political parties in Armenia and the first Socialist party in the Ottoman Empire and in Persia in the 1880s. It was founded in 1887 by Avetis Nazarbekian, Mariam Vardanian, Gevorg Gharadjian, Ruben Khan-Azat, Christopher Ohanian, Gabriel Kafian and Manuel Manuelian, a group of college students in Geneva, Switzerland, with the goal to gain Armenia's independence from the Ottoman Empire, which is part of Armenian national liberation movement. Its name, taken from its newspaper Hunchak, means "Bell" in English, and is taken by party members to represent "awakening, enlightenment, and freedom."