Wind Unit
Turkish: Rüzgâr Birliği
Active1992–1994
Country Turkey
AllegianceGrey Wolves
TypeInfantry battalion
RoleGuerrilla warfare
Size500 (1992)
Garrison/HQTovuz, Azerbaijan (1992)
ColorsTurquoise
EngagementsFirst Nagorno-Karabakh War
Commanders
Notable
commanders
  • Hamit İlbey
  • Atilla Kaya
  • İrfan Özcan
  • Yusuf Ziya Arpacık
  • Aydoğan Aydın

Wind Unit (Turkish: Rüzgâr Birliği, Azerbaijani: Rüzgar birliyi)[1] or Wind Group (Turkish: Rüzgâr Grubu, Azerbaijani: Rüzgar qrupu)[2] was a volunteer infantry battalion composed of Turkish nationalists. Established in 1992, by Alparslan Türkeş, the founder of the Nationalist Movement Party and the Grey Wolves, its goal was to spread the idea of Turanism in all of the Turkic countries that gained independence after the fall of the Soviet Union.

About 500 members of Wind Unit, who were mostly former special forces servicemen of Turkey, went to Azerbaijan after the Khojaly massacre in 1992, during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, to train the Azerbaijani forces, though they also limitedly contributed to the Azerbaijani war effort. Despite this, they were removed from Azerbaijan in 1993, and the battalion was disbanded a year later after pressure from the Turkish government.

History

Wind Unit was established by the orders of Alparslan Türkeş, the founder of the Nationalist Movement Party and the Grey Wolves, to spread the idea of Turanism in all of the Turkic countries that gained independence after the fall of the Soviet Union.[3]

First Nagorno-Karabakh War

During the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, after the Khojaly massacre in 1992, where at least 200[4][5] and possibly as high as 613[6] ethnic Azerbaijani civilians were massacred by Armenian Armed Forces and 366th CIS regiment,[7][8] Türkeş instructed Aydoğan Aydın and other Turkish officers to support the Azerbaijani forces in their war effort and to "protect the people in the region from massacres."[1] According to Novruz Hasanov, also known as Novruz Hasan Bozalganli, an Azerbaijani police officer who served in Tovuz, the Turkish officers even met with Abulfaz Elchibey, then President of Azerbaijan and got his approval, though a suitable education field could not be found and some of the Turkish officers left Azerbaijan.[9]

Later in 1992, a camp was set up in Azerbaijan, reportedly about 40 kilometres (25 mi) of Tovuz, close to the Armenia–Azerbaijan border, in a Soviet-era ex-scouting camp,[9] to train volunteer Azerbaijani nationalists who would form the basis of a new army in Azerbaijan.[3] The camp provided military and political training to the members of Wind Unit. Military training in the camp was provided by Hamit İlbey, a reserve officer of the Turkish Air Force who previously worked at the Turkish Special Forces Command, and political education by Atilla Kaya, İrfan Özcan, and some other Turkish nationalists.[10] Yusuf Ziya Arpacık and Aydoğan Aydın were also in Azerbaijan as part of Wind Unit.[11][12] These servicemen were dismissed from the Turkish Armed Forces and served in Azerbaijan voluntarily.[13] According to Arpacık, after President Heydar Aliyev took office, 22 volunteer battalions composed of the Azerbaijani servicemen trained by the Turkish servicemen were disbanded. Arpacık had stated that Aliyev removed Wind Unit from Azerbaijan in 1993 and that this was followed by defeats in the frontline as the military operations were carried out with uneducated recruits.[1]

According to Bozalganli, 500 Turkish Grey Wolves members were serving in Azerbaijan in 1992.[9][14] Bozalganli also claimed that the battalion was supposed to contain 2,000 men, with the other 1,500 being planned to come from the Azerbaijani Popular Front Party and the Musavat Party. Among the Turkish servicemen, there were no deaths, but several Turkish servicemen were wounded during the war.[1]

Dissolution

In 1994, after the Turkish government put pressure on Alparslan Türkeş, Wind Unit was dissolved.[15]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Rüzgâr Birliği" [Wind Unit]. Haftalık (in Turkish) (126). 6–12 September 2005. Archived from the original on 30 June 2013. Retrieved 12 January 2021 – via Yalnız Kurt.
  2. ^ Tekin 2005, p. 289.
  3. ^ a b Hasanov, Ilkin (16 June 2017). "Türkeşin mühafizəçisinin Qarabağ savaşından - Fotosu" [Photo of Turkesh's bodyguard from the Karabakh War]. Axar.az (in Azerbaijani). Archived from the original on 12 January 2021. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  4. ^ "Human Rights Watch World Report 1993 – The Former Soviet Union". Human Rights Watch. Archived from the original on 18 February 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  5. ^ HRW 1994, p. 6.
  6. ^ "Letter dated 26 February 2015 from the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the United Nations Office at Geneva addressed to the President of the Human Rights Council". Archived from the original on 11 January 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  7. ^ de Waal 2004, p. 172–173.
  8. ^ "New York Times – massacre by Armenians Being Reported". New York Times. Commonwealth of Independent States; Azerbaijan; Khojaly (Armenia); Armenia. 3 March 1992. Archived from the original on 11 March 2007. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  9. ^ a b c "Türkeş, Azerbaycan'da gerilla kampı kurdurmuş" [Türkeş had set up a guerrilla camp in Azerbaijan]. Yeni Şafak (in Turkish). 12 July 2003. Archived from the original on 3 January 2010. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  10. ^ Yanardağ 2002, p. 449.
  11. ^ "Gözaltındaki MHP komandosu" [MHP commando in custody]. Milliyet (in Turkish). 2 June 2011. Archived from the original on 12 January 2021. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  12. ^ Çelikdönmez, Ömür (15 June 2017). "Şehit Aydoğan Aydın Azerbaycan'da CHP Adalet yürüyüşünde!" [Martyr Aydoğan Aydın in a CHP Justice march in Azerbaijan!]. Milliyet (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 12 January 2021. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  13. ^ "Турецкие националисты намерены участвовать в новой карабахской войне" [Turkish nationalists intend to participate in a new Karabakh war]. REGNUM (in Russian). 14 July 2012. Archived from the original on 14 July 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  14. ^ Asif (16 June 2017). "Türk generalın Qarabağda çəkilmiş NADİR FOTOSU - Ermənilərə qan udduran "RÜZGAR BİRLİYİ"" [RARE PHOTO of Turkish general taken in Karabakh - "RUZGAR BIRLIYI", bringing misery upon Armenians]. Publika.az (in Azerbaijani). Archived from the original on 12 January 2021. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  15. ^ "ALPARSLAN TÜRKEŞ'İN 500 KİŞİLİK RÜZGAR BİRLİĞİ" [500-STRONG WIND UNIT OF ALPARSLAN TÜRKEŞ]. Haberin Durağı (in Azerbaijani). 28 November 2017. Archived from the original on 14 December 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2021.

Bibliography

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