Muhammad Ahmed Faris(arab.; born May 26, 1951, Aleppo, Syria) - cosmonaut-researcher of the Soyuz TM-3 spacecraft (Soyuz TM-2) and the Mir orbital research complex; the first and only cosmonaut of Syria.

Biography

My father was engaged in dyeing threads and fabrics.

From 1969 to 1973 he studied at the Syrian Air Force Academy at the Neyrab airfield near the city of Aleppo (Aleppo). Since 1973 he served as a pilot and instructor at the same airfield.

At the end of September 1985, he was selected in Syria as one of two candidates for astronauts. In October 1985, he arrived at the Gagarin TsPK for training and began it. In December 1986 he was assigned to the main crew.

From July 22 to July 30, 1987 he made a space flight on the Soyuz TM-3 spacecraft (landing on the Soyuz TM-2 spacecraft). During the flight, he performed experiments in space medicine and materials science, and also surveyed Syria from space.

On July 30, 1987, the Soyuz TM-2 with the crew of A. Viktorenko, A. Laveikin and M. Faris undocked from the Mir station and made a successful landing on the same day.

After a space flight in 1987, he again returned to serve in the Syrian Air Force. In 2001, he headed the Institute for the Training of Military Pilots in Aleppo (Aleppo). He was in this position for 8 years, then he worked in Damascus as a director of the department.

On August 4, 2012, he fled to Turkey and joined the opposition, supporting the Free Syrian Army, which is waging war against President Bashar al-Assad.

In February 2016, he accused Russia and Putin of killing 2,000 Syrian civilians.

Awards

• Hero of the Soviet Union, holder of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal (Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of July 30, 1987).
• Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration" (April 12, 2011) - for a great contribution to the development of international cooperation in the field of manned space exploration.

Family status

Wife Gind Akil (Gind Akil), housewife. They have three children: daughter Gadil born in 1979, son Kutayba born in 1981. (in 2002 he studied at the Department of Informatics at the University of Aleppo) and another son, who was born on December 30, 1987, after his father's flight, and received the name Mir (Mir), in honor of the Soviet orbital station.

The story of Mohammed Faris, the first Syrian cosmonaut who became an opposition activist and an active fighter against the Assad regime.

"In Syria, Faris is a national hero. A school, an airport and streets are named after him," the paper said.

In 1985, the Syrian authorities chose him, a combat pilot, as one of four candidates for cosmonauts and sent him to the Soviet Union to be selected for Star City.

Two of the candidates, Faris recalls, were, like then-president Hafez al-Assad, Alawites, one was a Druze, and, finally, he himself was a representative of the Sunni majority.

From a political point of view, the Alawites, of course, had every chance to enter the cosmonaut corps. However, it soon became clear that it was Faris - both in terms of health and qualifications - that was more suitable than others for preparing for a flight into space.

The Syrian leadership, according to Mohammed Faris, "it was easier to appoint me as prime minister than to agree that I would become the country's first cosmonaut."

However, the Soviet military unexpectedly showed firmness, insisting that it was Faris who entered the cosmonaut corps.

As a result, he began training at Zvezdny, and two years later, as part of the crew of the Soyuz spacecraft, he flew to the Mir orbital station, which lasted seven days, 23 hours and five minutes.

In 2000, when power in Syria passed from Hafez al-Assad to his son Bashar, Faris held the honorary post of head of the air force academy. Then he became a military adviser, planning to engage in scientific and pedagogical activities in the future.

Everything changed in 2011 with the start of the civil war. A year later, Muhammad Faris and his family managed to escape to Turkey.

"He was and remains the highest-ranking deserter from the military forces of the Assad regime."

64-year-old Faris, the newspaper notes, still keeps Soviet awards - the star of the Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin.

"His former colleagues and friends in Russia offered to help. However, he spits in disgust when he thinks he could get asylum there."

"Putin is not the Soviet Union. These Russians are murderers and criminals, they support murderers. They have the blood of more than 2,000 civilians on their hands," Muhammad Faris told reporters.

Since Faris settled in Istanbul, Russia has invited him to participate in various conferences, but he has consistently refused to accept the invitation.

"They must stop the violence. As far as I understand, the problem, unfortunately, is in their way of thinking. That's why I can't be their friend," the Guardian quoted Syria's first cosmonaut as saying.

Mohammed Ahmed Faris has largely forgotten Russian in the nearly 30 years since his space flight. But in a conversation, he says a few phrases in Russian, mainly when greeting and parting. Like his son, he speaks of warm feelings for the Russian people, while speaking sharply about the actions of the Russian leadership, which launched a military operation to support Assad's forces. Faris emphasized that most of the Russian air strikes were against the anti-Assad opposition, not the Islamic State group.

Here is how Kutayba Faris, the middle son of the astronaut, recalls those events:

– When the revolution took place in Syria, my family lived in Damascus, because my father worked in the Air Force control center. The father called on all members of the family to take the side of the Syrian people, who rightly demanded freedom and dignity. My brother Mir demonstrated in Damascus, putting his life in danger. He later told us about the brutal treatment of peaceful demonstrators, about how security agents beat and arrested them.

I was then working in Aleppo as an information technology engineer in one of the departments of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor. Every day I have seen the suffering of the Syrians from how difficult it is for them to find a job. I realized how difficult, unbearable and humiliating the life of the Syrian people was. Unemployment in Syria was higher than in other countries, there was no real increase, and the laws were passed for the benefit of minions of a regime that was not only itself corrupt, but also spread corruption. The situation in Syria was extremely unfavorable in all areas, except for repression and arbitrariness.

When the revolution began, we, intellectuals and educated people, realized that this was the only correct way to salvation. I joined my friends - academics, students and activists - in political activities. We organized peaceful demonstrations on the campus of the university in Aleppo. I saw with my own eyes how the security forces and mercenaries stormed the university building, attacked the students. Some of them were arrested, many were killed with bestial cruelty. I still can't forget how they caught up with one student and threw him out of the window of the fourth floor. All this happened only for the reason that we wanted to freely express our political views.

My father has always been on the side of justice. He urged us to follow the only right path, despite the dangers. When the authorities found out that we supported the revolution, they began to persecute my father, they suddenly suspended him from work, and then my family moved to Aleppo.

The secret services also persecuted me and other revolutionary activists, so I decided to flee to Saudi Arabia and work there for a telecommunications company. There, my political activities were limited to coordination and support through the Internet and social and information networks.

I feared for my family, I felt fear every day, knowing that my father decided to leave Syria in order to announce that the Syrian people would join the revolution. Therefore, we contacted revolutionary activists and members of the Free Syrian Army to ensure a safe escape from Aleppo. And after several attempts to confuse the security services, the father and family managed to escape and reach the Turkish city of Kilis, not far from Aleppo.

After that, my father announced that he was joining the revolution of the Syrian people and their just and legitimate political demands.

The regime confiscated my house and my father's house in Aleppo. Our relatives were persecuted, some of them were killed in revenge for what my father had done.

In September 2012, the World Congress of Cosmonauts was held in Saudi Arabia. Saudi cosmonaut Emir Sultan bin Salman invited me and my father to a conference. I was very happy when I met Uncle Leonov there again (cosmonaut Alexei Leonov - ed.). We were silent for a long time. I remember how he wept. I met many other Russian cosmonauts with whom we had fond memories.

I remember cosmonaut Alexander Alexandrov. How delighted my father was when they met! We tried to explain to them what is really happening in Syria, how to act, that we need to prevent the situation from worsening while we are not yet at the abyss. But, unfortunately, the situation is now worse than everyone expected.

What guides an ordinary person when choosing political preferences in adulthood? As a rule, even the most desperate nihilists and perpetrators of conflicts between generations become adherents of the religion and beliefs of their fathers, reaching 50. The first Syrian cosmonaut sent into earth orbit, to the international space station Mir by the Soviet Union, was no exception.

In Syria, Faris is a national hero, a school and an airport are named after him, he keeps the Order of Lenin and the star of the Hero of the Soviet Union. But now he is an ardent opponent of Russia and, living in Turkey, hundreds of miles from his birthplace, Aleppo, he supports the Syrian opposition.

And back in 1985, he was one of four young Syrians applying for participation in the Interkosmos training program in Star City near Moscow. At that time, Syria's ties were strengthened with the Soviet Union, which supported the father of Bashar Hafez al-Assad, who came to power as a result of a coup d'état in 1970. In return, Syria allowed the opening of the Soviet naval base in Tartus, which remains in Russian hands today.

Here is what Faris says about how he became a member of the international crew: two of the candidates were, like then-president Hafez al-Assad, Alawites, one was a Druze, and, finally, he himself was a representative of the Sunni majority.
From a political point of view, the Alawites, of course, had every chance to enter the cosmonaut corps. However, it soon became clear that it was Faris - both in terms of health and qualifications - that was more suitable than others for preparing for a flight into space. The Syrian leadership, according to Mohammed Faris, "it was easier to appoint me as prime minister than to agree that I would become the country's first cosmonaut." However, the Soviet military unexpectedly showed firmness, insisting that it was Faris who entered the cosmonaut corps, writes the Guardian.

In these statements, one can feel the hurt national pride. Sunnis make up the majority of the population of Syria, and representatives of the Alawite minority are in power. Nevertheless, Faris managed to make a good career. When Hafez died and his son Bashar came to power in 2000, Faris was one of the first people to meet with the country's top leadership. As head of the country's air force academy, he became a military adviser.
When peaceful, according to the first Syrian cosmonaut, opposition protests began, he joined them. Faris believes that the officers who support Assad are mostly Alawites, or "brainwashed" people

In 2012, he emigrated to Turkey, becoming the highest-ranking defector. And, what is insulting, now he is throwing mud at Russia and rejecting the help offered by his former colleagues. Of course, one can agree with his statement that Putin is not the Soviet Union. But his accusations against Russia speak of undisguised hatred.

However, he also does not favor the West. Although Faris received asylum offers from European NGOs, he thinks that they want to use him for their own political purposes. "They didn't intervene when needed," he says of Europe and the US.


And although the first Syrian cosmonaut says that neither religion nor weapons will solve the problems in Syria, the question arises, and who? After all, Faris himself shows a clearly expressed attitude to everything precisely on a religious basis.

The first Syrian cosmonaut, who flew to the Soviet space station Mir, calls the Russian people for peace

At the end of July 1987, the Syrian pilot Mohammed Ahmed Faris went into space as part of the Soviet space program and spent seven days on the Mir orbital station. 25 years later, in early August 2012, he fled from the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who brutally suppressed the opposition. Now Faris, Hero of the Soviet Union, appeals to the "great Russian people" with an appeal not to fight against the people of Syria.

At the end of September 2015, an astronaut congress was held in Sweden, to which Faris, who lives in Turkey, was also invited. However, he did not get to the congress: the Swedish authorities refused to issue him a visa, and the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, which published an interview with Faris, failed to find out the reasons for the refusal. At this time, a refugee crisis began in Europe, among which there are many people who fled from the Syrian civil war.

The organizers of the congress, contacted by RFE/RL to interview Faris, handed over the email address of his middle son. Kutayba Faris, born in 1981, perfectly remembers a trip with his father to the Soviet Union, life in Star City, where he was trained, Soviet cosmonauts (and calls the “first man in space” Alexei Leonov, in the 80s the former deputy head of the training center, "Uncle Leonov"):

Uncle Leonov came to school to persuade me to read a poem in Russian

– I will never forget it. When my father went to the USSR to prepare for space flight, I was with him, my mother and older sister. I was then seven years old. I remember Star City not far from Moscow very well. I lived and studied there for two and a half years. I well remember my childhood friends - Sasha, Alik, Zina. My teachers Love and Faith. I still remember some revolutionary songs that glorify man and freedom. I remember how we sang songs about Lenin's revolution against oppression and despotism. I remember very well how my uncle, cosmonaut Leonov (the first to go into outer space) came to my school to persuade me to read a poem in Russian in the school theater. I will never forget the kind and friendly Russian people, from whom I learned a lot, and the best thing I learned is to be free and always stand on the side of goodness and justice, no matter what. I dream of once again going to that wonderful city that is still alive in me.

Kutayba's younger brother Faris, born in late 1987, was named after the Soviet space station, Mir.

The name of Muhammad Ahmed Faris, who became famous in his homeland after the space flight (as it turned out later, this fame would bring him trouble), will again appear in the reports of international news agencies in 2012. Then, during the “Arab Spring”, after the forces of President Bashar al-Assad began to brutally suppress mass protests, the first Syrian cosmonaut, a general in the Syrian army, flees the country and supports the opposition Free Syrian Army.

Here is how Kutayba Faris recalls those events:

I have seen the suffering of the Syrians daily

- When the revolution took place in Syria, my family lived in Damascus, because my father worked in the Air Force control center. The father called on all members of the family to take the side of the Syrian people, who rightly demanded freedom and dignity. My brother Mir demonstrated in Damascus, putting his life in danger. He later told us about the brutal treatment of peaceful demonstrators, about how security agents beat and arrested them.

I was then working in Aleppo as an information technology engineer in one of the departments of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor. Every day I have seen the suffering of the Syrians from how difficult it is for them to find a job. I realized how difficult, unbearable and humiliating the life of the Syrian people was. Unemployment in Syria was higher than in other countries, there was no real increase, and the laws were passed for the benefit of minions of a regime that was not only itself corrupt, but also spread corruption. The situation in Syria was extremely unfavorable in all areas, except for repression and arbitrariness.

Many were killed with bestial cruelty

When the revolution began, we intellectuals and educated people realized that this was the only correct way to salvation. I joined my friends - academics, students and activists - in political activities. We organized peaceful demonstrations on the campus of the university in Aleppo. I saw with my own eyes how the security forces and mercenaries stormed the university building, attacked the students. Some of them were arrested, many were killed with bestial cruelty. I still can't forget how they caught up with one student and threw him out of the window of the fourth floor. All this happened only for the reason that we wanted to freely express our political views.

My father has always been on the side of justice. He urged us to follow the only right path, despite the dangers. When the authorities found out that we supported the revolution, they began to persecute my father, they suddenly suspended him from work, and then my family moved to Aleppo.

After several attempts to confuse the security services, they fled

The secret services also persecuted me and other revolutionary activists, so I decided to flee to Saudi Arabia and work for a telecommunications company there. There, my political activities were limited to coordination and support through the Internet and social and information networks.

I feared for my family, I felt fear every day, knowing that my father decided to leave Syria in order to announce that the Syrian people would join the revolution. Therefore, we contacted revolutionary activists and members of the Free Syrian Army to ensure a safe escape from Aleppo. And after several attempts to confuse the security services, the father and family managed to escape and reach the Turkish city of Kilis, not far from Aleppo.

Our relatives were persecuted

After that, my father announced that he was joining the revolution of the Syrian people and their just and legitimate political demands.

The regime confiscated my house and my father's house in Aleppo. Our relatives were persecuted, some of them were killed in revenge for what my father had done.

After my father left Syria, his political activities were limited to providing moral support to activists and giving advice to the Free Syrian Army. He always insisted that cities should not be involved in the conflict, so that they would not be subject to airstrikes and to avoid civilian casualties. He advised concentrating the fighting near military airfields so that the conflict would end as soon as possible and with as few casualties as possible, and also in order to protect unarmed civilians from airstrikes.

I again met with Uncle Leonov

In September 2012, the World Congress of Cosmonauts was held in Saudi Arabia. Saudi cosmonaut Emir Sultan bin Salman invited me and my father to a conference. I was very happy when I met Uncle Leonov there again. We were silent for a long time. I remember how he wept. I met many other Russian cosmonauts with whom we had fond memories.

I remember cosmonaut Alexander Alexandrov. How delighted my father was when they met! We tried to explain to them what is really happening in Syria, how to act, that we need to prevent the situation from worsening while we are not yet at the abyss. But, unfortunately, the situation is now worse than everyone expected.

I would like to wish Russia to change its political position

Cosmonauts, including those from Russia, expressed solidarity with the people of Syria, with her children.

In conclusion, I would like to wish Russia to change its political position, reconsider its attitude towards what is happening and the future, so that it does not drown in the blood of the innocent. After all, I learned from you that the will of the people cannot be broken, that the people win in the end. I would like to visit Star City once again, bringing with me the roses of love and friendship, and not the thorns of hatred,” says Kutayba Faris.

​Mohammed Ahmed Faris, in the almost 30 years that have passed since his flight into space, unfortunately, has largely forgotten the Russian language. But in a conversation, he says a few phrases in Russian, mainly when greeting and parting. Like his son, he speaks of warm feelings for the Russian people, while speaking sharply about the actions of the Russian leadership, which launched a military operation to support Assad's forces. Faris stressed that most of the Russian air strikes were against the anti-Assad opposition, and not the Islamic State group (recognized as a terrorist organization in Russia and other countries. - RS). It should be added that the interview with Faris was taken before a series of terrorist attacks in France and before Russia recognized the sinking of the plane over Sinai as a terrorist attack, after which, according to incoming reports, Russian aviation stepped up strikes against ISIS, coordinating their actions with Western coalition aviation .

Interestingly, with all the benevolent attitude towards the Soviet Union in one of the interviews Faris cites Viktor Kravchenko, a Soviet defector who denounced the Stalinist regime, as one of his influences, I Choose Freedom. In the same interview, Faris says that he and his friends were shaped by the political climate that existed in Syria before the March 8, 1963 coup: “In those days, we had some kind of political freedom, there were parties. That political climate shaped my personality and the personality of my friends. But I wanted to be a fighter pilot in the Syrian armed forces. I believed that the pilot should be far from politics. Then the Baath party came to power, this brought Hafez Assad to power, oppression and suppression of personal freedoms began.”

Our interview with Mohammed Ahmed Faris began with memories of Syria from his childhood:

– I was born in the old quarter of the city of Aleppo in 1951. My father was engaged in dyeing threads and fabrics. I went to elementary and high school on the same block. I graduated from high school in 1970. Then Syria was a wonderful country, people had pure hearts, the streets were also clean. My memories are wonderful and beautiful, especially those of my relatives and friends in the neighborhood where I lived. How wonderful those days were, full of purity!

I have always wanted to travel long distances

Why did you become a military pilot?

I have always dreamed of traveling long distances. I don't like closed spaces. In addition, our house was located next to the runway of the flight school in Aleppo. And the main reason is that the fighter pilot is the strongest shoulder in the defense of the motherland.

Was space your dream, did you achieve it, or was it just the decision of the authorities to send you to the Soviet space program?

- As I said, I always wanted to travel long distances, so I read a lot about space and constantly thought about Gagarin. As for space flights, the decision to conduct them, in principle, falls within the competence of the authorities. But the choice of an astronaut is a very complex process, and human capabilities play a major role in overcoming a difficult path.

I still remember the view of Syria from space

- You were in the USSR at the time when reforms began in the country, as a result of which the Soviet Union disappeared five years later. The people with whom you talked in the USSR - how did they feel about what was happening?

- Naturally, any change is initially perceived with caution, but I think that they wanted changes.

- Flight into space - can you call it the most important moment in your life? You filmed Syria from space - how do you feel about it now?

– Yes, it was one of the most important events in my life, because it was a turning point for me. When I was shooting Syria, I was very happy and excited. Ask Alexander Alexandrov. Of course, I still remember the view of Syria from space.

- Do you keep the star of the Hero of the Soviet Union?

Yes, I still have it. I took it with me to Turkey and showed it on some Turkish TV channels.

- You named your son Mir in honor of the space station - is that what you call him in the family circle?

– Yes, I named it Mir after the space station. That's his name, and that's what we call him.

The dictatorship does not accept any well-known name along with the name of the dictator

- Tell us about the years after the flight. On the one hand, it was reported that you were almost under house arrest for many years, on the other hand, you continued military service and trained military pilots.

- After the flight into space, I became a famous person, people loved me, because I loved and respected all of them, from young to old. I kept in touch with them. I also started lecturing about space. Thus, I experienced the full burden of the life of a famous person, and I was happy with both positive and negative moments. But during a dictatorship that does not accept any well-known name next to the name of the dictator Hafez al-Assad, I was without a position and without official work for nine years, despite the fact that I am a pilot and I have a military rank. And then, feeling ashamed, they gave me the position of director of the Aviation Institute, where they trained military pilots. I spent eight years in this position in Aleppo. Then I moved to Damascus, and they gave me the position of director of administration, I received the rank of brigadier general.

Fire under the ashes

– What was your attitude to the Assad regime in the 2000s, then to the “Arab Spring”? Were there tensions between Sunnis and Alawites?

“I was outraged at how Bashar al-Assad inherited his father's position, because we suffered so much from the dictatorship and repression of President Hafez al-Assad. We were suffocated by the omnipotence of the secret police, but we could not say anything openly. Naturally, when the revolution began in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, I was optimistic. Our spring will remain, despite the fact that the fire of despots and shaitans burned its flowers. Unfortunately, Hafez Assad and his son Bashar were able to attract the Alawites to their side by all means and temptations and mobilized them for their own purposes. And this despite the fact that the Alawites make up no more than 10% of the Syrian people. Naturally, there were problems, but they were like fire under the ashes, and they were suddenly exposed by the “Arab spring”.

Then I decided to run

– When and why did you decide to flee Damascus and join the opposition? Tell us about the circumstances of the flight - it is reported that this happened on the fourth attempt.

- In early 2012, after I witnessed the crimes, killings and mass arrests of the Assad regime, despite the fact that the demonstrations were one hundred percent peaceful. Bashar al-Assad admitted that the demonstrators did not fire a single bullet during the six months that 5,000 peaceful demonstrators were killed. I also saw with my own eyes how Assad's planes massacred children, women, civilians. That's when I decided to run. The last attempt on August 4, 2012 was successful. I was forbidden to leave, I was closely watched, and it would take a long time to talk about the details.

– Did you participate in planning the operations of the Free Syrian Army or simply expressed political support for it?

- First of all, I support her politically, and sometimes I give advice.

Our revolution will defeat the regime and terrorism

- What were the relations between the heterogeneous groups that were part of the united opposition - secular and Islamic?

– Relations were different, depending on the ideology, but they are united in the desire to free themselves from Assad's dictatorship, tyranny and oppression.

- Did you have any hope that this heterogeneous opposition coalition would be able to resist the Assad regime, on the one hand, and the Islamic State, on the other?

Yes, I have great hope that our revolution will defeat the regime and terrorism, despite the malicious interference against our revolution.

- Now Russia is trying to get some opposition forces to compromise with Assad. Is it possible? What is your attitude towards this?

- Russia does not try to reach a compromise, despite the fact that the revolution has no compromise path: the revolution must win. I have already stated my position on Russia's actions several times when I met with the Russian consul in Riyadh, and also twice during meetings with the Russian consul in Istanbul. Russia is for Assad and against the Syrian people. Here I mean the Russian government, because the great and heroic Russian people are against oppression, persecution and dictatorship.

90% of Russian airstrikes are against the Free Syrian Army

- The Russian air campaign that began a month ago - did it change the course of the war? There were reports that the opposition stopped the advance of Assad's troops. What are your predictions regarding further developments?

– Despite the fact that the second month has passed since the beginning of the Russian air aggression against the Syrian people, we can say the following: the greatest amount of destruction is in infrastructure; thousands of innocent people were also killed, including many children, women and the elderly. That Russian airstrikes are directed against ISIS are false claims, as 90% of Russian airstrikes are against the Free Syrian Army, which is fighting against Assad's tyranny. These strikes failed to stop the Syrian opposition, which continues to fight against Assad's army, in the end the just cause of the Syrian people will prevail.

There is a difference between my attitude to power and to the great Russian people

– What is the attitude of the Syrian opposition towards Russia, has this attitude changed in the last month? Is it perceived as an enemy to be fought? What do you feel about the country where you worked for a long time and where you flew into space from?

– The attitude of the Syrian opposition towards the military machine that kills the Syrian people in order to leave the dictator in power is the same attitude as the Russian people have towards Nazi Hitler. There is a difference between my attitude towards the government that orders the killing, and towards the great Russian people, most of which, I believe, are against the killing of the Syrian people.

– Do you continue to communicate with astronauts from Russia and other countries? Space matters more than politics?

– I continue to communicate with many cosmonauts, and especially with Russian cosmonauts, because we were like brothers on earth and in space.

- You were not allowed to attend the cosmonaut congress in Sweden, you were denied a visa - against the backdrop of a massive influx of refugees from Syria to Europe. Did it hurt you?

- There was no reason not to give me a visa, because I had already traveled to Europe several times during the revolution. I was hoping to meet my astronaut friends at the congress. Unfortunately, this issue is within the competence of the Swedish government. (Already after the interview, Faris visited Europe. - RS).

Take the side of the oppressed

- You live in Turkey. Do you think you will be able to return to your homeland?

Yes, I live in Turkey. But I have already traveled several times to areas liberated from Assad's oppression. I constantly dream of returning to my homeland to work there with my compatriots. In conclusion, I would like to address the Russians and the Russian media. Great Russian people! For several years I lived among you, and I had the great honor to ascend into space with you. I knew that you always oppose oppression and tyranny. The Syrian people have long resisted Assad's oppression and tyranny. So stand on the side of the oppressed and against their executioners and violators of their rights everywhere in the world. And I call on the Russian media to take the side of the truth and seek the truth in the light, not in the shadows,” Muhammad Ahmed Faris said in an interview with Radio Liberty.

Valentin Baryshnikov

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On July 22, 1987 Soyuz TM-3 launched into space. The crew, together with A. Viktorenko and A. Alexandrov, included the first and only Syrian cosmonaut Mohammed Ahmed Faris (left).

From 1969 to 1973 he studied at the Syrian Air Force Academy in Aleppo. Then he served as a pilot and instructor in the Syrian Air Force. In 1985, he was selected in Syria as one of two candidates for astronauts. During the eight-day flight, he performed experiments in space medicine and materials science, and also surveyed Syria from space. By decree of the PVS of the Union, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

After making a space flight, he returned to serve in the Syrian Air Force. In 2001, he headed the Institute for the Training of Military Pilots in Aleppo (Aleppo). He was in this position for 8 years, then he worked in Damascus as a director of the department. Everything seemed normal, but...

In 2012, he fled to Turkey and joined the opposition, supporting the Free Syrian Army, which is waging war against President Assad. In February 2016, he accused Russia of killing Syrian civilians. One of his sons is named Mir (Mir) in honor of the Soviet orbital station.
Interview with him and his son