Thousands Protest ISIL's Kobane Siege, Show Solidarity With Kurds

Thousands of people gathered in İstanbul's Taksim Square on Sunday to protest the terrorist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant's (ISIL) siege of the city of Kobane (Ayn al-Arab in Arabic) in Syria, inhabited predominantly by ethnic Kurds.

Taking to the streets to demonstrate against ISIL, the crowd walked from İstanbul's Tünel quarter to Galatasaray High School, chanting slogans against ISIL aggression in the area.

Police took a series of security measures in an effort to block the group, but as the crowd become more numerous the police forces withdrew, after which the crowd continued to Taksim Square.

The demonstration followed calls by the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and other Kurdish organizations for a show of solidarity with the people of Kobane in the face of ISIL fighters.

The ISIL militants, backed by tanks and other heavily armored vehicles, captured 16 Kurdish villages within 44 hours in the area around Syria's northern city of Kobane, near the Turkish border, precipitating an influx of almost 100,000 refugees into Turkey, according to the latest numbers.

Kurdish militia fighters and ISIL combatants have been locked in a fierce battle in Kobane for control of the region.(Cihan/TZ)

SHOTLIST
TURKEY, ISTANBUL, 21 SEP 2014

Thousands of people chanting slogans
Protestors holding huge Banner
VAR of marching crowd and chanting slogans

DURATION: 02:09