On September 21, a short video was circulated on social media showing a group of Central Asian fighters deployed to Afrin to support the mobilization of Al-Quwwa al-Mushtarak against other Syrian National Army (SNA) factions Al-Jabha al-Shamiya and Suqour al-Shamal.

The video shows about a dozen well-armed and equipped fighters gathered at night around a commander who appears to be giving them instructions in a Turkic language. The cameraman filming the group introduces them to the camera as fighters of Al-Quwwa al-Mushtarak. The militants are seen wearing several different patches, the three most prominent of which are a yellow crescent on a green background, a Gokturk wolf and the word "Turk" written in Old Turkish script which is common Turkish nationalist iconograph, with a yellow pattern of three intertwined crescents and stars on a red background.

According to the captions to the video, it was filmed near Kafr Janna, which has become a flashpoint in recent years due to its location on the border of the Afrin and Azzaz regions, areas controlled by the Al-Quwwa al-Mushtaraka and Al-Jabha al-Shamiya factions, respectively.

 

The SNA has been regularly accused by its opponents of harboring foreign fighters and jihadists within its ranks. In May 2021, AfrinPost, a media outlet that supports the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), accused Faylaq al-Sham commander Abdullah Halawa of hosting 200 Uzbek fighters affiliated with Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in villages on the southwestern frontline in Afrin. Two years later, in December 2023, observers suggested that a militant who was filmed fighting alongside al-Quwwa al-Mushtarak on the same frontline was of Central Asian origin due to his distinctive haircut and facial hair, and the editor inexplicably pixelated the images with him in focus. The video provides stronger evidence for these allegations than previously available, but the location where it was filmed and the identities of those present have not been confirmed.

Twitter user Vitis V has since discovered that the militants belong to a group called Turan Tugayi or Liwa Turan. Turan is the historical name of part of modern Central Asia, while Tugayi and Liwa (fr om the Arabic word liwa) mean “brigade” in Central Asia.

Analysis of visuals posted by the group on Telegram, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram show that it is a small faction within Furqat al-Hamza, which in turn is part of Al-Quwwa al-Mushtaraka. Its logo is the same intertwined crescent emblem seen in the September 21 video, that appears to be borrowed from the “Special Organization of Enver Pasha,” the main perpetrator of the Armenian and Assyrian genocide in the Ottoman Empire. Above and below the crescents, the logo reads “Hamza Division - Turan Brigade.”

Photos show members of the group meeting with Furqat al-Hamza commander Saif Polat and being present at the recognisable Furqat al-Hamza bases, including its main headquarters (and departure point for fighters) at the Hawar Kilis military checkpoint. The limited information the group has released on social media suggests its ethnic diversity: its Facebook handle is TuranTugayiUzbek, while it has posted statements in Uzbek, Kyrgyz, and Tajik, as well as Arabic and Turkish. This mixed membership makes the group similar to Central Asian jihadist groups in Idlib, such as Katibat al-Tawhid wal-Jihad and Katibat al-Imam al-Bukhari, as well as the various foreign jihadist private military companies that have emerged in Idlib over the past five years or so.

Actually, the Telegram channel does identify several fighters by name, including “Umar Fidoi,” the man seen talking with other fighters in the September 21 video.

TuraNTugayiUzbek appears to be a relatively recent creation. The first videos on their YouTube channel were posted in April 2024, and a blogger from Uzbekistan who appears to work with them in some media capacity first posted about their presence in northern Aleppo in November 2023. The same blogger appears to have been based only in Idlib until August 2023, when he posted photos from the Julianos Church in the Afrin frontline town of Barad. This group may have arrived in the area to fight for Furqat al-Hamza following HTS’s incursion into Afrin in October 2022.

 

Earlier reports of Uzbek fighters linked to field commander Abdullah Halawa were later corroborated by facts. These fighters largely remained in Furqat al-Hamza after Halawa fled Syria amid a drug scandal. Attack claims and geolocations place the Central Asian fighters along the Afrin-Shahba frontline, wh ere they reportedly act as shock troops, raiding SDF positions along the frontline. 

Their presence likely explains the newfound aggressiveness seen from Quwwa al-Mushtarak along this frontline since late last year. While the SNA has typically taken a defensive stance against the SDF’s offensive tactics, relying on static heavy weapons, Quwwa al-Mushtarak has begun conducting its own raids in recent months in addition to using armed drones. In addition to its combat role, the group may also be training Furqat al-Hamza/Quwwa al-Mushtarak fighters, as well as Central Asian jihadist groups in Idlib.

 

The confirmed existence of a Central Asian brigade within Furqat al-Hamza raises more questions than it answers. 

First, the pan-Turkic symbolism seen on the group’s social media is unique to Central Asians in Syria, who are typically strict Salafi-jihadists affiliated with al-Qaeda or splinter movements. It can therefore be stated that Uzbeks and Tajiks in Syria are beginning to unite in the pattern of some Turkoman groups that have been active for years in northern Latakia, maintaining connections with ultra-nationalists in Turkey, recruiting Turkish volunteers and adopting the ideology of the nationalist-Islamist synthesis of Turkey’s Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).