Thousands Celebrate Repel Of ISIL From Kobani

Thousands of people across Turkey have celebrated the defeat of Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants who besieged the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani by Kurdish fighters on Tuesday, in southeastern province on Wednesday.

After it was reported that ISIL withdrew from the town and that the Democratic Union Party (PYD) took control, thousands took to the streets to celebrate the PYD victory over ISIL and set off fireworks, as a group of people in Diyarbakır province chanted slogans in Kurdish celebrating the PYD and sang Kurdish songs.

A group of nearly 3,000 people, including Democratic Regions Party (DBP) members, came together in front of the party's provincial building to dance the halay (a traditional Kurdish dance) and to celebrate the victory of the Kurdish fighters in Kobani. The group also chanted slogans for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) jailed leader, Abdullah Öcalan. Crowds celebrating were reportedly carrying flags of the PKK and the Kurdistan Communities' Union (KCK).

It has been 134 days since ISIL militants first seized Kobani.

SHOTLIST
TURKEY, DIYARBAKIR, 27 JAN 2015

VAR of the celebrations in Diyarbakır
Huge cheering crowd

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