Turkey gives permission for the Free Syrian Army to enter Kobani

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has revealed Ankara will allow hundreds of Syrian rebels to head to the embattled town of Kobani along the Syrian-Turkish border to help Kurdish fighters in the battle against Islamic State militants (IS). Erdogan said in Estonia on Friday that the Western-backed Free Syrian Army will send 1,300 fighters to Kobani. Kurdish Syrian fighters have been battling militants who have been trying to seize the town since mid-September.

We always said that our first preference in Syria is the FSA.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Erdogan told reporters during a tour of Estonia and Latvia that the FSA fighters were negotiating their route with Kurdish forces in the town. However, a spokesman for the Western-backed Syrian opposition in exile, Kenan Mohammed, said he was not aware of any such plans. The FSA, the main opposition armed group battling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, will send troops to the town to aid in the fight against ISIS, according to a written statement by the group’s operating unit in Aleppo. Meanwhile, Kurdish fighters have retaken a hill near Kobane from IS fighters that could prove essential if further supply airdrops are made by the U.S. and its allies. The hill to the west of the town was retaken overnight on Thursday with the help of an air attack.

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