Turkey Opposition Slams Kobani Corridor As 'Policy U-Turn'

The main opposition party in Turkey has criticized the government for allowing the Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga forces a safe passage into the besieged Syrian town of Kobani.



The peshmerga are expected to reinforce the ranks of the Syrian Kurd fighters battling the militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, in Kobani since mid-September.



Addressing a press conference, Haluk Koc, lawmaker and spokesman of the Republican People's Party, or the CHP, said Wednesday the Turkish government had made a 'policy U-turn.'



Koc's remarks came after the Turkish government announced it would give the peshmerga access to Kobani through Turkey.



He accused the government of changing its stance at the behest of the U.S., especially after American President Barack Obama recently made a telephone call to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.



He said Erdogan's portrayal of the PYD fighters as terrorists was left "hanging in the air" after permission for a safe passage to Kobani was granted to the peshmerga. This, according to Koc, sent a message to the world that Turkey was a "country forced to determine its policies in the region upon the orders of dominant powers."



Erdogan earlier said it was he who offered Obama to let the peshmerga enter Kobani. The Turkish president also said that any U.S. support or aid meant for the PYD or the PKK was "unacceptable" for Turkey.



www.aa.com.tr/en - Ankara