Active 2012–present Founded 2012 | Strength 5,000 (2015) Battles and wars Syrian civil war | |
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Groups Sultan Murad DivisionMehmed the Conqueror BrigadeAlparslan Special ForcesSyrian Turkmen FrontSultan Selim BrigadeAnwar al-Haq BattalionAshab al-Yamin Brigade2nd Coastal DivisionTurkmen Mountain BrigadeMuntasar Billah BrigadeSuleyman-Shah BrigadeSultan Malik-Shah Brigade Leaders Ahmet Arnavut(overall commander)Lt. Tarık Solak(2nd Coastal Division-2nd brigade commander)Riyad Qarrah Bijeq (DOW)(2nd Coastal Division commander)Alparslan Çelik(Turkmen Mountain Brigade commander)Ömer Abdullah(Field commander)Adil Orli(Field commander)Col. Ahmed Othman(Sultan Murad Division commander)Fehim İsa(Sultan Murad Division commander)Ali Şeyh Salih (DOW)(Sultan Murad Division commander) Area of operations Aleppo GovernorateLatakia GovernorateHoms Governorate Allies TurkeyGrey Wolves al-Nusra Front(only in Latakia) Ahrar ash-Sham Allegiance Opponents Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, Syrian Armed Forces, Syrian Democratic Forces | ||
Syrian turkmen brigades message to the netherlands english subtitles
Syrian Turkmen Brigades (Turkish: Suriye Türkmen Tugayları), also called the United Turkmen Army (Turkish: Birleşik Türkmen Ordusu), are an informal armed opposition structure composed of Syrian Turkmen and Turks that form the military wing of the Syrian Turkmen Assembly, primarily fighting against the Syrian Armed Forces, Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the Syrian Democratic Forces. They are aligned with the Syrian opposition and are heavily supported by Turkey, who provides funding and military training along with artillery and aerial support. The groups represents a wide spectrum of ideologies from Islamism to secular Turkish nationalism.
Contents
- Syrian turkmen brigades message to the netherlands english subtitles
- History
- Aleppo
- Latakia
- Aligned with SDF
- References
History
In November 2015, Syrian Turkmen Brigades and al-Nusra Front fighters were engaged in heavy fighting against the Syrian government forces supported by the Shiite militias and the Russian Air Force. Turkmen forces have been the target of heavy Russian bombing in 2015, with reported civilian casualties which have been interpreted as a Russian effort aiming to change the ethnic dynamics of the region. On November 24, 2015 a Russian Su-24 fighter was shot down by Turkish forces for allegedly violating Turkish airspace, near the Syrian border. The aircraft crashed on Syrian land. The two pilots ejected and were shot at in the air while using their parachutes by the Syrian Turkmen Brigades.
Aleppo
The Sultan Murad Division was formed in early 2013 and mainly operates in the Aleppo Governorate, claiming to process around 1,300 fighters as of 2016. There groups include the Mehmed the Conqueror Brigade, Syrian Turkmen Front, Mehmed the Conqueror Brigade, Sultan Murad Brigade, Martyr Zaki Turkmani Brigade, Ashbal Akida Brigade, Hamza and Abbas Brigade, Ahli Sunnah and Community Brigade, Yarmouk Regiment, 1st Regiment and the Turkmen Martyrs Brigade.
On 1 November 2016, a group named the Forces of Alp Arslan was formed in northern Aleppo, with its logo being a modified logo of the Grey Wolves.
Latakia
Formed in July 2015, the 2nd Coastal Division is the main Turkmen rebel group operating in the Latakia Governorate and is notable for killing one ejected Russian Air Force pilot from the Su-24 which was shot down by Turkey. The commander of the group, Alparslan Çelik, is a member of the Grey Wolves. The subdivisions are the Brigade of Mountain Turkmen, the Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror Brigade, the Sultan Selim Brigade, and the 1071 Raiders Brigade The 2nd Coastal Division has less than 500 fighters as of the end of 2015, although the group claims to have 2,000.
According to the Syrian Turkmen National Movement Party, as of early 2016, three out of more than 40 villages in the Turkmen Mountain of Latakia were under Turkmen rebel control, as the result of the 2015–16 Latakia offensive. Many Turkmen rebels in the area are Turkish citizens affiliated with the Grey Wolves. The 2nd Coastal Division took part in the 2016 Latakia offensive in an attempt to regain the territory lost to government forces in 2015. Over the course of the offensive, rebels retook Kinsabba, though division commander Riyad Qarrah Bijeq was mortally wounded during the assault.
Aligned with SDF
The Seljuq Brigade (former Sultan Selim Brigade member, now Army of Revolutionaries member) and the Manbij Turkmen Brigade (Army of Revolutionaries's Northern Sun Battalion) and the Shoheda Hamam Turkman Brigade are Syrian Turkmen groups operating Rojava Syria respectively, unlike other Syrian Turkmen rebel groups, they are allied with the Syrian Democratic Forces and are not supported by Turkey.