At least 14 people were killed in Turkey in clashes that erupted yesterday during demonstrations in support of Kurdish fighters who have been fighting ISIS jihadists for weeks in the Kurdish-Syrian city of Kobane, on the Turkish border. Thousands took to the streets to denounce Ankara's inertia in the face of the siege. Islamic State militiamen entered Kobane on Monday night, after almost three weeks of fighting.
According to Turkish media reports, at least eight people have died in Diyarbakir, the main city in the Kurdish-majority south-east where the authorities have imposed a curfew. In Istanbul, where a large Kurdish community lives, the police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowd, then arrested 98 people, according to what was specified by the Dogan news agency.
Meanwhile, the jihadists have withdrawn from some areas of Kobane after the air raids carried out yesterday by the US-led international coalition. This was reported by Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Today a new air raid was carried out by the international coalition against an ISIS target.
Ankara demands from the United States a commitment for the future removal of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad - and the introduction of a no fly zone over Syria - in exchange for its direct intervention against Isis in Kobane, as it reiterated on Monday at the CNN Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. The Turkish government is also accused by many of having supported, or at least favored, in recent years the Islamic militias in Syria - including jihadists - within the anti-Assad front, after Erdogan's break with the government once an ally of Damascus.
“Terrorism will not be stopped by air raids – Turkish President Erdogan said – as long as we do not collaborate in view of a ground operation in agreement with those who are already fighting on the ground. Months have passed without any results being obtained”.
According to the UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, the international community must act urgently to "defend" Kobane and avoid "a massacre. The whole world, all of us will deeply regret if ISIS manages to conquer a city that defended itself bravely, but can no longer take it. We have to act now."
