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While a US-led coalition conducted intense air strikes on Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) targets in and around the Syrian town of Kobani, militants continued shelling the town over the weekend.
The coalition hit ISIL targets at least six times in Kobani, which was shelled by the militants of the extremist group. Turkish and US officials have repeatedly expressed their concerns that Kobani may fall to ISIL militants despite the Kurdish response.
In Kobani, a commander for the People's Protection Units (YPG) -- the Syrian Kurdish militia defending Kobani -- who only gave her code name, Dicle, told Reuters over the weekend that ISIL's renewed attacks aimed to sever the town's last link with Turkey. "They want to cut off Kobani's connection with the rest of the world," she told Reuters by telephone. "Turkey is not allowing in fighters or weapons, but they send aid at Mürşitpınar. ISIL wants to destroy this gate so that we will be completely trapped here."
Kurdish fighters in Syria have been calling on the international community to send arms. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has objected to arms transfers to the Democratic Union Party (PYD), a Syrian Kurdish group that is defending the border town of Kobani in the face of the ISIL onslaught, saying it is a terrorist group that is no different from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
The president's remark followed a US statement last week saying it had directly met for the first time with the PYD, which is widely considered the PKK's Syrian arm. The YPG has been battling to stop ISIL's advances on Kobani for more than a month. The US-led international coalition has been helping Kobani's defense by hitting ISIL targets in the town.
“There has been talk about forming a front against ISIL by giving the PYD arms. But the PYD, for us, is equal to the PKK; it is a terrorist organization,” Erdoğan said, criticizing the West for not supporting other groups in Syria that also have been fighting against ISIL. “It would be very wrong for the US, a NATO ally, to openly talk of such support [to the PYD] and expect us to agree,” he said in remarks published on Sunday.
US President Barack Obama's administration is working on forming a strong coalition against the threat of ISIL in the region. Addressing top military leaders from more than 20 countries last week, Obama said about 60 countries have committed to join the campaign against the terrorist organization.
Erdoğan also seemed suspicious of the motives of its Western partners. “One should ask: why Syria, why Kobani? One-third of Iraq is gone. Why are they not bothered by this? It is all about Kobani. This is thought-provoking,” he said.
Turkey has been reluctant to join the coalition and has called for the establishment of a safe zone and a no-fly zone inside Syria. In addition, Turkey insists on the removal of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, saying the Assad regime is first and foremost responsible for creating an atmosphere that is fertile for radical groups such as ISIL to emerge.
US officials have made it clear that their immediate priority is defeating ISIL. Last week, the US dismissed a claim by Erdoğan accusing it of launching air strikes in the Middle East for oil, rather than fighting against terrorism.
“I think we've made the intention of our air strikes clear, which is to take on the threat of ISIL, as is true of our other coalition partners,” US Department of State Spokesperson Jen Psaki said on Oct. 14.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry issued a statement last week saying its government is against the establishment of a buffer zone or a safe zone inside the country. The ministry dismissed Turkey's call for a no-fly zone over Syrian territories as a “flagrant violation" of the UN Charter and international law.
The US administration has also been pressing hard to obtain expanded access to the İncirlik Air Base in Adana province, which is in close proximity to ISIL targets inside both Syria and Iraq. So far Turkey has accepted the role of training the moderate Syrian opposition inside Turkey, but negotiations over basing rights for military operations against ISIL are still ongoing, with a military team from the US in Ankara.
Erdoğan said: “What is wanted of us in İncirlik is not clear. We will assess the matter as soon as it becomes clear,” he said on Sunday.
Turkey is housing about 1.5 million Syrian refugees and the intense clashes in the border town of Kobani have prompted a new wave of refugees.
In the meantime, UN Undersecretary-General and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Ann Amos visited Syrian refugees in Suruç, a town in Şanlıurfa province, on Sunday. Amos stressed the negative impacts of the Syrian crisis on neighboring countries, including Turkey.
Another host country for large numbers of Syrian refugees, Lebanon, said it is no longer receiving any Syrian refugees except for those with immediate humanitarian needs, according to reports in the foreign media.
SHOTLIST
TURKEY, ŞANLIURFA, 20 OCT 2014
Wide view of the Kobani
Gunshots in Kobani
US airstrike to the ISIL position in Kobani
Smokes rising from the Kobani
VAR of Turkish tanks moving on the borderline
DURATION: 05:57
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