Kyrgyz Army


The Kyrgyz Land Forces, also commonly known as the Kyrgyz Army is the infantry branch of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan. The current commander of the Kyrgyz Army is Colonel Nurlan Kiresheyev.

History

Kyrgyzstani authorities at first thought not having an entire army. That idea has since has been replaced by plans to create a conscripted army of 5,000 troops. During the months since independence, Kyrgyzstan advocated for a unified CIS Army which would replace the Soviet army. Those plans collapsed when Russia announced that it would not finance CIS troops. In April 1992, Kyrgyzstan formed a State Committee for Defense Affairs, and in June the republic took control of all troops on its soil. In 1994, 30 percent of the officer corps were ethnic Russians.The first commander was General Valentin Luk'yanov, an ethnic Ukrainian. On January 25, 2017, President Almazbek Atambayev officially founded the Kyrgyz Army, with Colonel Erlis Terdikbayev acting as its first commander.

Structure

Ground forces are divided into 2 military commands, the Northern and Southern Groups of Forces.

Northern Group of Forces