Turan Group

The Turan Group is a fake Muslim Russian private military company in Syria.[1] For unknown reasons, the existence of Turan was fabricated by a Russian journalist and others through staged photographs and Photoshop.[2] It is described as a hoax.[2]

Patch used by the group

According to a September 2018 report from the Chr. Michelsen Institute, it was reported that Wagner contractors who were asked about Turan have never officially heard of its existence.[3]

History

The group was supposedly founded in the spring of 2017 Central Asian, Russian and other former Soviet nationals with Special Forces and general military background. The group is similar to another Russian PMC active in Syria called the Wagner Group, however many of its recruits are Central Asians who have adopted Shiite beliefs and were therefore recruited to go to Syria to fight alongside other Shiite militia groups such as Hezbollah. In an interview in a Russian newspaper with an individual affiliated with the group reported that Russian speaking Arabs with Hezbollah patches had recruited on behalf of the organization, individuals from the former Soviet Union, offering recruits 15000 USD to fight for 8 months in Syria against ISIL.[4]

Gear

Members are the group reportedly use NATO weapons such as M4 Carbines, members of the group also wear black, red and blue stripes on their shirts with "Turan" inscribed on them and patches with a clenched fist holding a Kalashnikov type rifle, similar to Hezbollah's logo. The group also venerate Tamerlane and the Timurid Empire including using Timurid symbols among their own.[5]

References
  1. Leviev, Ruslan (6 January 2018). "Turan — a new private military company fighting in Syria or an elaborate hoax?". Conflict Intelligence Team.
  2. Marten, Kimberly (26 Mar 2019). "Russia's use of semi-state security forces: the case of the Wagner Group". Post-Soviet Affairs. 35 (3): 181–204. doi:10.1080/1060586X.2019.1591142.
  3. https://www.cmi.no/publications/file/6637-russian-use-of-private-military-and-security.pdf
  4. "Private military companies: Moscow's other army in Syria".
  5. "A Battalion Of Turan Б─■ Blackwater Russia!". Csef.ru. Retrieved 2018-08-04.
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