| Turan Battalion | |
|---|---|
| Founder |  Aidos Sadyqov |
| Commander |  Furkan Çetin |
| Foundation | November 20, 2022 |
| Country |  Ukraine |
| Allegiance |  Armed Forces of Ukraine |
| Ideology | Pan-Turkism Turanism Anti-Russian sentiment Far-right politics |
| Status | Active |
| Size | ≈1000 |
| Part of |  Ukrainian Ground Forces |
| Opponents |  Russia |
TheTuran Battalion is a Turkicvolunteer battalion of theUkrainian Armed Forces fighting in theRusso-Ukrainian War.[1]
On November 20, 2022, aKazakh opposition activist namedAidos Sadyqov declared the group's creation in his Telegram channel. He appointedKyrgyz national Almaz Kudabek, who worked as a hairdresser inKyiv, 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 againstRussia's "genocide against Turkic peoples", and also threatenedVladimir Putin andRamzan Kadyrov.[2] The Kyrgyzambassador to Ukraine, Idris Kadirkulov, offered Kudabek to return to Kyrgyzstan, but Kudabek rejected the offer and chose to keep fighting in Ukraine.[3][4] 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 dollarhit on him.[5] When Almas Kudabek was talking about his motives, he stated "we just want to fight Russians, we know what they are."[6] 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."[7]
The Turan Battalion has ethnicKazakhs,Kyrgyz,Azerbaijanis,Uyghurs,Tatars,Crimean Tatars, and various other Turkic peoples from Russia and theNorth Caucasus among its ranks.[1][8] A fighter from the Russian-Ukrainian war named Zhasulan Duysembin, "the Kazakh Rambo", also joined the battalion.[4][9]
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