Social Democrat Hunchakian Party
The Social Democrat Hunchakian Party (SDHP) (), also known as Hentchak 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, Ruben Khan-Azat and others, who studied 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."