MIDDLE EAST
Turkey Says It Will Aid Kurdish Forces in Fight for Kobani
By KAREEM FAHIM OCT. 20, 2014
MURSITPINAR, Turkey — Hours after American military aircraft dropped ammunition and small arms to resupply Kurdish fighters in the embattled Syrian town of Kobani, Turkey’s foreign minister said Monday that the country would facilitate the movement of Iraqi Kurdish forces, known as pesh merga, to the city to join the fighting.
The Turkish foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, speaking at a news conference in Ankara, said that his government was “helping the pesh merga cross over to Kobani,” an apparent shift from Turkey’s previous refusal to allow any military assistance to Kurdish fighters in the town.
The developments reflected escalating international pressure to help Kurdish forces push back Islamic State militants who have been attacking the Kurdish town for more than a month. The battle has become a closely watched test for the Obama administration as it embarks on a war reliant on air power against the militant group in Iraq and Syria. It has also raised tensions across the border in Turkey, where Kurds have accused the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of abandoning the city to the militants.
Kurdish fighters, backed by an intensifying campaign of airstrikes by the United States-led military coalition, succeeded last week in pushing the militants back in several places, including in the west of the city. But over the last two days, the Islamic State fighters have mounted significant counterattacks with the support of dozens of mortar strikes.
Kurdish officials had repeatedly complained that without new supplies of ammunition and weapons, the airstrikes would not be sufficient to drive away the militants. On Monday, a commander in Kobani, Abu Hasan, said that “spirits and morale were high,” after the airdrops, which United States officials said included 27 bundles from Iraqi Kurdish authorities and contained medical supplies, ammunition and weapons.
Polat Can, a spokesman for the Kurdish fighters in Syria, said that shipment had included antitank weapons. And he said that the Kurdish forces were expecting more airdrops in the coming days.
Mr. Cavusoglu did not say how or when the Pesh Merga fighters would cross into Kobani, but a Foreign Ministry official said that their passage through Turkish territory would be opened immediately.
Until now, Turkey has denied access to Kurdish fighters trying to cross its borders to help the embattled town because of concerns about empowering the Kurdish separatists who have for decades battled the Turkish government for autonomy.
Turkey Says It Will Aid Kurdish Forces in Fight for Kobani
By KAREEM FAHIM OCT. 20, 2014
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| Turkish army tanks took up positions Sunday by the Turkish-Syrian border opposite the Syrian town of Kobani. Credit Gokhan Sahin/Getty Images |
MURSITPINAR, Turkey — Hours after American military aircraft dropped ammunition and small arms to resupply Kurdish fighters in the embattled Syrian town of Kobani, Turkey’s foreign minister said Monday that the country would facilitate the movement of Iraqi Kurdish forces, known as pesh merga, to the city to join the fighting.
The Turkish foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, speaking at a news conference in Ankara, said that his government was “helping the pesh merga cross over to Kobani,” an apparent shift from Turkey’s previous refusal to allow any military assistance to Kurdish fighters in the town.
The developments reflected escalating international pressure to help Kurdish forces push back Islamic State militants who have been attacking the Kurdish town for more than a month. The battle has become a closely watched test for the Obama administration as it embarks on a war reliant on air power against the militant group in Iraq and Syria. It has also raised tensions across the border in Turkey, where Kurds have accused the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of abandoning the city to the militants.
Kurdish fighters, backed by an intensifying campaign of airstrikes by the United States-led military coalition, succeeded last week in pushing the militants back in several places, including in the west of the city. But over the last two days, the Islamic State fighters have mounted significant counterattacks with the support of dozens of mortar strikes.
Kurdish officials had repeatedly complained that without new supplies of ammunition and weapons, the airstrikes would not be sufficient to drive away the militants. On Monday, a commander in Kobani, Abu Hasan, said that “spirits and morale were high,” after the airdrops, which United States officials said included 27 bundles from Iraqi Kurdish authorities and contained medical supplies, ammunition and weapons.
Polat Can, a spokesman for the Kurdish fighters in Syria, said that shipment had included antitank weapons. And he said that the Kurdish forces were expecting more airdrops in the coming days.
Mr. Cavusoglu did not say how or when the Pesh Merga fighters would cross into Kobani, but a Foreign Ministry official said that their passage through Turkish territory would be opened immediately.
Until now, Turkey has denied access to Kurdish fighters trying to cross its borders to help the embattled town because of concerns about empowering the Kurdish separatists who have for decades battled the Turkish government for autonomy.
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