Syrian Turkmen Brigades
| United Turkmen Army | |
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Birleşik Türkmen Ordusu Participant in the Syrian Civil War |
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Official flag of Syrian Turkmen as declared by the official governing body of Turkmen in Syria, the Syrian Turkmen Assembly on 25th November 2015.
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| Active | 2012–present |
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| Strength | 5,000 (2015) |
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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.
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.
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Wikipedia