Syria: Kurds demand Turkey’s help against ISIS, threaten to halt peace
process
Kurdish fighters in Kobani called on Ankara to provide them with weapons and
ammunition
Caroline Akoum Asharq Al-Awsat Sunday, 28 Sep, 2014
http://www.aawsat.net/2014/09/article55337020

Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat—Syria’s Kurdish fighters, who are battling the
Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in a strategic border town, have
threatened to disrupt the peace process with Turkey if it fails to provide
them with military support, Asharq Al-Awsat has learned.

“The peace process between Kurds and the Turkish government depends on
whether Ankara decides to support us or not,” spokesman for the Syria-based
Democratic Union Party (PYD) Nawaf Khalil told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Militants from ISIS continued their attack on Kobani, a Kurdish-majority
town on Syria’s border with Turkey, for the tenth day despite fierce Kurdish
resistance aided by US-led airstrikes.

The Al-Qaeda-splinter group on Saturday tightened its siege of the town,
also known as Ain Al-Arab, with Kurdish militants warning of atrocities
committed by the group.

In a statement on Friday Kurdish fighters based in Kobani called on Ankara
to provide them with weapons and ammunition to halt the Islamist advance.

“We call on the Turkish government to supply us with sophisticated weapons
and ammunition with the aim of repelling and eliminating the [Islamist]
attack,” the statement said, warning that “leniency toward the organization
would put the fate of our people on the line and increase [Islamist] risk
along Turkey’s southern border.”

“The statement puts Turkey face to face with its responsibilities and
defines [our] relationship with it,” the Kurdish official said. “This will
clarify the intentions of Turkey after it declared its support of the
international coalition against ISIS,” he said. “But if it does not respond
to our demands, this confirms the information that it supports the
[Islamist] organization.”

Several thousand Kurds, including fighters, women and children, crossed from
Turkey into Syria on Friday to offer military and moral support to their
fellow Kurds in Kobani, Khalil said.

He also said that thousands of Kurds are positioned along the border to make
sure Turkey is not helping ISIS.

Over 150,000 Syrians have fled to Turkey since ISIS began its attack on the
town more than a week ago.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an said a “secure area” should be
created to protect thousands of Syrian refugees who have gathered along the
border with Turkey, AP reported on Friday.

Turkey has been reluctant to participate in the US-led airstrikes on ISIS in
Syria and Iraq. However, on Friday Erdo?an said his government is
considering ways to support the international coalition.