Turkey’s foreign minister said Monday that the country would facilitate the movement of Iraqi Kurdish forces, known as pesh merga, to the embattled Syrian town of Kobani to join the fighting there.
At a news conference in Ankara, the Turkish foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, 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.
At a news conference in Ankara, the Turkish foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, 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 announcement, along with an American decision to use military aircraft to drop ammunition and small arms to resupply Kurdish fighters, reflected escalating international pressure to 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 fight 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 Kobani to militants from the group Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL.
Secretary of State John Kerry, speaking in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, said the Obama administration approved the airdrop because it would have been “irresponsible” and “morally very difficult” not to support to the Kurdish fighters in a “crisis moment,” The Associated Press reported.
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 Kobani. 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.
“Let me say very respectfully to our allies the Turks that we understand fully the fundamentals of their opposition and ours to any kind of terrorist group and particularly obviously the challenges they face with respect the P.K.K.,” Mr. Kerry said, referring to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party. “But we have undertaken a coalition effort to degrade and destroy ISIL, and ISIL is presenting itself in major numbers in this place called Kobani.”
Secretary of State John Kerry, speaking in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, said the Obama administration approved the airdrop because it would have been “irresponsible” and “morally very difficult” not to support to the Kurdish fighters in a “crisis moment,” The Associated Press reported.
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 Kobani. 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.
“Let me say very respectfully to our allies the Turks that we understand fully the fundamentals of their opposition and ours to any kind of terrorist group and particularly obviously the challenges they face with respect the P.K.K.,” Mr. Kerry said, referring to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party. “But we have undertaken a coalition effort to degrade and destroy ISIL, and ISIL is presenting itself in major numbers in this place called Kobani.”
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