Since Islamic State (IS) extremists laid siege to the Kurdish-majority town of Ayn al-Arab or Kobani in northern Syria last month, Turkey has been holding out on offering robust support for Kurds in their battle with advancing jihadists.
But yesterday Ankara announced it would allow Kurdish peshmerga fighters from Iraq to enter Kobani from Turkish territory in order to assist their brethren defending the town. "We are facilitating the passage of peshmerga forces to Kobani to provide support. Our talks on this subject are continuing," said foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
Details on the move were scant, though a Turkish official said: “We can say the situation was getting tense in Kobani, and that is partly why Turkey is allowing this.”
The official couldn’t say how many Iraqi peshmerga would be allowed into Kobani from Turkey, nor when that might happen, but suggested the air drop of weapons, ammunition and medical aid to Kurdish fighters in Kobani by United States aircraft on Sunday night may have influenced Turkey’s stance.
Turkey said it has spent over €2.4 billion assisting refugees since the beginning of the Syria crisis and has taken in over a million refugees.
Internal power struggles
According to Wladimir van Wilgenburg, an analyst based in
Irbil, in Iraqi Kurdistan, internal power struggles between various Kurdish militias mean some do not want new fighters on the Syrian battlefield.
“But if the KRG [Kurdish Regional Government] will be part of the US arms delivery/air drops, there must be some conditions attached to it,” he said. The aircraft carrying the weapons and aid dropped to Kurdish fighters in Kobani were flown from Irbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan.
However, the KRG, which governs the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq, has announced no plans to send fighters to Kobani, having seen its forces stretched by engagements with IS extremists in eastern and northern Iraq.
Ankara’s policy of denying military assistance to the besieged town, even as mortars fired by IS fighters continue to land inside Turkish territory, has drawn criticism from world leaders and Kurds in Turkey, and fuelled protest-related violence in the southeast of the country which has left at least three dozen people dead in recent weeks.
Turkey had come under pressure from the international community to open its border and allow civilians to flee into Turkey, and to permit Kurds in Turkey to enter Syria to fight the jihadists.
Earlier this month a US delegation visited Ankara to press Turkey to take a more active role in the crisis.
Kurdish political demands
By allowing Kurdish fighters from Iraqi Kurdistan pass into Kobani, Turkey may be relenting to demands from, among others, Kurdish political parties, seen as key to securing the government’s success at parliamentary elections next year.
But on the ground in Kobani the humanitarian situation appears to be worsening.
More than 5,000 civilians caught in the besieged town and at the nearby border crossing for over a month are lacking medical supplies and water, said one resident of Kobani, Bahran Misko.
Heavy rain and cold yesterday had put many of the civilians remaining in Kobani at risk, he said. “They have no water, no electricity.”
He said there had been no clashes between Kurdish fighters and Islamic State jihadists up to yesterday afternoon and he credited US air strikes for the lull. Residents of the town, he said, welcomed Turkey’s decision to allow Iraqi peshmerga into Kobani.
“I expect that the first Kurdish fighters from Iraq will arrive after three or four days,” he said.