Hussam Awak

Hussam al-Din Awak is a former officer in the Syrian Armed Forces who reportedly became a Free Syrian Army commander upon the outbreak of the Syrian civil war. After claiming in 2015 that Turkey had cooperated with Islamic State (IS), Awak was denounced by Syrian opposition figures as a fraud and liar. In 2016, Awak joined the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alongside his unit, the Free Officers Union. He eventually resigned from the SDF and the Syrian Democratic Council in December 2017.

Biography Service in the Syrian Armed Forces Hussam Awak is from Deir ez-Zor Governorate His rank at that time, however, is strongly disputed; he has widely been described as a former brigadier general by various news agencies, but his opponents have claimed that Hussam has given this rank to himself, and that he had never risen to a particularly high position in the Syrian Armed Forces. The circumstances of his resignation from the Syrian military are equally controversial. Hussam has been considered a defector by some,

In late 2015, Hussam said in an interview with the Sputnik news agency that he had evidence that Turkey bought oil from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Thereafter, numerous pro-opposition sources and rebel leaders claimed that Awak was a fraud who supported Russia and was not connected to the Free Syrian Army in any way. He said that the reason for his defection was that the FSA had reduced itself to the proxy of foreign powers, particularly Turkey. Furthermore, he blamed the FSA for terrorist actions against civilians. From then on, he served as SDF brigadier general, and praised the "YPG and YPJ [as] the sun that shone on the region with their outgoing mentality and their good behavior", while also saying that he supports the federalization of Syria. Hussam also attended a meeting in Mansura between local tribal sheikhs and representatives of the Raqqa Civil Council as well as the Syrian Democratic Council in August, during which he said that the Assad government "had no place" in Raqqa anymore.

Split with the SDF Hussam announced his resignation from the SDF and Syrian Democratic Council on his Facebook page on 20 December 2017 without providing any reasons. In early March 2018, Hussam and his wife disappeared in Jazira Region while visiting a person close to Humaydi Daham al-Hadi, leader of the Syrian Shammar. His family consequently accused the Shammar Sheikh of having enforcedly disappeared the former officer near al-Yaarubiyah, with his nephew asking Îlham Ehmed, co-chairperson of the Syrian Democratic Council, for help. He later claimed that PKK members intervened on his behalf, though they did not return the confiscated money and goods as promised. He was then put under house arrest, though freed thanks to the help of foreign supporters, including Kurdish friends and United Nations officials.

Personal life Hussam is married to a Libyan woman who was reportedly a former member of Muammar Gaddafi's Amazonian Guard according to a pro-Syrian opposition news site. His opponents claim that he has four other wives as well, but that they are separated from him.