arkan

Arkan is best known as the nickname of Željko Ražnatović (1952–2000), a Serbian former criminal and paramilitary leader who headed the Serb Volunteer Guard, commonly known as Arkan's Tigers. The unit operated during the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s, fighting on the side of Serb forces in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina and carrying out a range of paramilitary operations that critics characterized as war crimes. Ražnatović was a prominent figure in the Yugoslav underworld and maintained ties with certain elements of state security and political networks of the era.

Ražnatović was assassinated in Belgrade in 2000, and Arkan's Tigers dissolved in the aftermath. Subsequent investigations and prosecutions linked some former members to crime and abuses committed during the conflicts, contributing to the controversial legacy of the organization and its leader. The figure of Arkan remains a focal point in discussions of the Yugoslav Wars and the intersection of crime and politics in the region.

In broader usage, the name Arkan has appeared in popular culture and media as a reference to Ražnatović. In some Slavic-speaking communities the name or nickname Arkan can be used informally to evoke strength or leadership, though such usage is informal and not widely standardized.