Lefteris Pitarakis/AP
Syria's first astronaut Mohammad Faris next to a painting of him in a spacesuit, Istanbul, 2016.
CNN
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Mohammad Faris, known as the “Armstrong of the Arab World” and Syria's only astronaut, died on Friday at 72 a.m. in his exile in the Turkish city of Gaziantep due to complications from a heart attack he suffered a month ago. News outlets reported that he passed away at the age of 50. A close friend spoke to CNN by phone.
In 1987, Faris, a pilot in the Syrian Air Force, spent eight days in space as part of the Soviet Union's Interkosmos spaceflight program. Faris flew to the Mir space station with a Soviet crew, becoming the first and only Syrian astronaut and the second Arab to reach space.
Syrians gathered to watch the moment former Syrian President Hafez al-Assad, father of Bashar, spoke with Faris in a phone call broadcast live on state television while Faris was in space. , I asked what I could see. Faris replied, “I'm looking at the country that I love. I think it's wonderful and beautiful just the way it is.” These words, though seemingly innocuous, marked the beginning of his downfall.
In a 2023 documentary aired on the news network Al Jazeera, Faris revealed his choice He ad-libbed his speech without reading a pre-written speech during the live phone call, which irritated the Syrian dictator, who is not used to being in the spotlight with other Syrians.
Upon his return to Syria, Faris was celebrated as a national hero by tens of thousands of Syrians. However, President Hafez al-Assad took a different view. Instead of the traditional medal ceremony, in which the president places the medal around the recipient's neck, Faris was given a box of medals instead.
In interviews late in his life, Faris said he asked the president to fund a national space program to educate more Syrians to follow in his footsteps and go into space, but Assad refused. Ta. – According to Faris – he had no interest in helping his fellow countrymen develop.
Mr. Faris said the “curtain has come down'' on his relationship with Mr. Hafez. President Al Assad during his final meeting attended by Saudi astronaut Prince Sultan bin Salman. President Assad reminded Faris of the moment he shouted “Ya Allah” during takeoff. The literal translation is “Oh God,” but in colloquial Arabic it is similar to “Let's go,” which Assad claimed was offensive to Russians. Faris disputed this. “The Russians were not upset. It was normal for them.”
After his return to Earth, Faris lived a quiet life in Aleppo. After the death of Hafez and the assumption of office of his son Bashar al-Assad, Faris supported the Syrian revolution that began in 2011. Faris decided to go into exile in 2012, risking his family's life and himself to openly oppose the Syrian regime. threatening danger.
“When I decided to leave Syria, I dispersed my children to different parts of Aleppo and gathered them together at certain points. We set off in a car with someone who helped us escape.” Faris told Al Jazeera in 2023.
“There were helicopters in the sky, but they withdrew as soon as the Free Syrian Army entered the town with machine guns,” Faris added.
A few days later, Faris moved to Turkey to live as a refugee. He became a very popular figure among Istanbul's Syrian refugee community. According to a report by Turkish state broadcaster TRT, Faris obtained Turkish citizenship in 2020.
Prior to his space trip, Faris stayed in Russia from 1985 to 1987 to undergo training at the closed Star City in the Moscow region, and was later awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union, but Russia's support for the Syrian regime It was critical. In an interview with The Associated Press in March 2016, Faris said he regretted Russia's support for the dictatorship in Syria, saying, “We stand by dictator Bashar al-Assad and hope that he will not be killed.'' I deeply regret the Russian intervention that began.” Syrian people on a plane. ”
