The Turan Battalion is a Turkic volunteer battalion of the

Ukrainian Armed Forces The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are the Military, military forces of Ukraine. All military and security forces, including the Armed Forces, are under the command of the president of Ukraine and subject to oversight by a permanent Verkhovna Rad ...

fighting in the

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

History

On November 20, 2022, a Kazakh opposition activist named Aidos Sadyqov declared the group's creation in his Telegram channel. He appointed Kyrgyz national Almaz Kudabek, who worked as a hairdresser in

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

, as the commander of the group. Almaz Kudabek appeared in the group's introduction video where he states that the group's goal is to fight against

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

's "genocide against Turkic peoples", and also threatened

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

and

Ramzan Kadyrov Ramzan Akhmatovich Kadyrov (born 5 October 1976) is a Russian politician and current head of the Chechen Republic. He was formerly affiliated with the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, Chechen independence movement, through his father who was the ...

. The Kyrgyz

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to Ukraine, Idris Kadirkulov, offered Kudabek to return to Kyrgyzstan, but Kudabek rejected the offer and chose to keep fighting in Ukraine. In a January 2023 interview, Almaz Kudabek said that the Turan Battalion had about 600 fighters, and claimed that Kadyrov had placed a 500 thousand dollar

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from ''Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust or HIT, a fictional organization i ...

on him. When Almas Kudabek was talking about his motives, he stated "we just want to fight Russians, we know what they are." After the Battle of Bakhmut ended, Kudabek said that the Turan Battalion was participating in more battles and that they grown in size. He also said that Kyrgyzstan had placed an arrest warrant on him, and stated "Kyrgyzstan is my homeland, I will always love it. But Ukraine is my home now, I am fighting for Ukraine. The only relief is that many Kyrgyz express support, I am fighting shoulder to shoulder with many compatriots." The Turan Battalion has ethnic

Kazakhs The Kazakhs (Kazakh language, Kazakh: , , , ) are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia and Eastern Europe. They share a common Culture of Kazakhstan, culture, Kazakh language, language and History of Kazakhstan, history ...

, Kyrgyz,

Azerbaijanis Azerbaijanis (; , ), Azeris (, ), or Azerbaijani Turks (, ) are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group living mainly in the Azerbaijan (Iran), Azerbaijan region of northwestern Iran and the Azerbaijan, Republic of Azerbaijan. They are predomin ...

Uyghurs The Uyghurs,. alternatively spelled Uighurs, Uygurs or Uigurs, are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central Asia and East Asia. The Uyghurs are recognized as the ti ...

Tatars Tatars ( )Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary are a group of Turkic peoples across Eas ...

Crimean Tatars Crimean Tatars (), or simply Crimeans (), are an Eastern European Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group and nation indigenous to Crimea. Their ethnogenesis lasted thousands of years in Crimea and the northern regions along the coast of the Blac ...

, and various other Turkic peoples from Russia and the

North Caucasus The North Caucasus, or Ciscaucasia, is a subregion in Eastern Europe governed by Russia. It constitutes the northern part of the wider Caucasus region, which separates Europe and Asia. The North Caucasus is bordered by the Sea of Azov and the B ...

among its ranks. A fighter from the Russian-Ukrainian war named Zhasulan Duysembin, "the Kazakh Rambo", also joined the battalion.

References

{{2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine Battalions of Ukraine Military units and formations established in 2022 Pro-Ukraine foreign volunteer units in the Russian invasion of Ukraine Pro-Ukraine foreign volunteer units in the war in Donbas Pan-Turkist organizations Pan-Turkism Turanism

History

See also

References