News Digest

Turkey U-turn as Iraqi Kurds granted access to beseiged town of Kobane

Turkey has given permission for Iraqi Kurdish fighters to reinforce fellow Kurds in the Syrian town of Kobane in a major policy change on Monday. On the day the U.S. air-dropped arms for the first time to help the defenders fight Islamic State (IS) then increase airstrikes on IS along with French and UK jets, Turkey’s change of heart is very significant. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Washington had asked Ankara to let Iraqi Kurds cross its territory so that they could help defend the town which lies on the Turkish frontier, adding that he hoped the Kurds would “take this fight on”.

We cannot take our eye off the prize here. It would be irresponsible of us, as well as morally very difficult, to turn your back on a community fighting ISIL.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry

Kurdish militias in Kobane have been fighting off an Islamic State offensive since September without, until now, outside help apart from U.S.-led airstrikes on the jihadists. The town, which is besieged on three sides, lies on the frontline of the battle to foil the radical group’s attempt to reshape the Middle East. However, Ankara views the Syrian Kurds with deep suspicion because of their ties to the PKK, a group that waged a decades-long militant campaign for Kurdish rights in Turkey and which Washington regards as a terrorist organisation.