US drops weapons and ammunition to help

Kurdish fighters in Kobani

John Kerry says it would be morally very difficult not to support Kurds as Turkey allows
fighters from Iraq to help defend town from Isis
Tracer rounds light the sky
over Kobani during an airstrike, seen from the ursitpinar crossing on the Turkish
border !hotograph" Kai !faffenbach#$euters
Constanze Letsch in Istanbul and agencies-Monday 20
October 201
The %& military has dropped weapons, ammunition and medical aid to Kurdish forces
defending Kobani against Islamic &tate 'Isis( militants, while Turkey has said it will
allow Iraqi Kurdish fighters to reinforce the &yrian border town)
*ollowing several weeks of air strikes by the %&+led coalition in and around Kobani,
the air drops were the first time weapons and ammunition had been provided to local
Kurdish forces)
,ccording to -ahur Jangi Talabani, director of the intelligence agency of the Kurdish
regional government in northern Iraq, ./ tons of small arms and ammunition and 01
tons of medical supplies were delivered to Kobani in three %& 2+031 cargo planes on
&unday)
The weapons were all supplied by the autonomous Kurdish authorities in Iraq) Turkish
media reported that the %& military did not use Turkish air space for the airdrops)
The %& secretary of state, John Kerry, said on onday the 4bama administration
decided to airdrop weapons and ammunitions to 5valiant6 Kurds because it would be
5irresponsible6 and 5morally very difficult6 not to support them)
eanwhile the Turkish government said on onday it would help Kurdish fighters from
northern Iraq cross the Turkish border into &yria to fight in Kobani)
,nkara has been under increasing international pressure to provide more than
humanitarian aid to refugees fleeing the violence in northern &yria) Kurdish politicians
in &yria and Turkey have urged the Turkish government to allow for the passage of
fighters and weapons into Kobani through its borders, but so far ,nkara has refused all
such demands)
It views the &yrian Kurds with deep suspicion because of their ties to the !KK, a group
that waged a decades+long militant campaign for Kurdish rights in Turkey)
Kerry told reporters in the Indonesian capital Jakarta that the %& administration
understood Turkeys concerns about supplying the Kurds, but said the situation is such
in Kobani that the resupplies were deemed absolutely necessary in a 5crisis moment6)
-et me say very respectfully to our allies the Turks that we understand fully the
fundamentals of their opposition and ours to any kind of terrorist group and particularly
obviously the challenges they face with respect 7to8 the !KK,6 Kerry said) 59ut we have
undertaken a coalition effort to degrade and destroy Isil 7another acronym for Islamic
&tate8, and Isil is presenting itself in ma:or numbers in this place called Kobani)6
Kerry said the militants had chosen to 5make this a ground battle, attacking a small
group of people there who, while they are an offshoot group of the folks that our
friends the Turks oppose, they are valiantly fighting Isil and we cannot take our eye off
the pri;e here6)
<e said" 5It would be irresponsible of us, as well morally very difficult, to turn your back
on a community fighting Isil as hard as it is at this particular moment)6
The Turkish foreign minister, evl=t >avuso?lu, said the operation was in line with a
wider regional effort to fend off Isis, and added that Turkey was ready to allow Iraqi
Kurdish forces to cross into &yria)
@e want the region to be cleared of all threats) @e assess the military and medical
materials aid provided by our Iraqi Kurdish brothers and airdropped by the %nited
&tates to all forces defending Kobani in this framework6, he said) 5There are seven or
eight groups that are fighting together with the !AB 7the main &yrian Kurdish political
group8) The Iraqi+Kurdish regional authorities have also declared that they are
cooperating to help Kobani,6 >avuso?lu said) 5@e are helping peshmerga forces to
cross into Kobani) 4ur discussions regarding that issue are ongoing)6
&ome observers pointed out that the perceived policy shift in ,nkara was no surprise)
!ointing to a string of violent protests that shook Turkey two weeks ago in response to
the governments perceived inaction regarding the crisis in Kobani, esut Aegen, a
historian of the Kurdish issue, said that Turkey could not risk the fall of the town" 5The
events from two weeks ago clearly showed that if Kobani should fall, the peace
process would end) The Turkish government wanted to test how people would react,
and they saw what would have happened) Turkey can no longer be seen as watching
the drama in Kobani unfold without doing anything)6
&ores <esen, spokesperson of the &yrian !eoples Befence 2orps in Kobani,
confirmed that %& military and medical aid has reached Kobani and thanked 5those
that sent them6)
4thers were more critical) 5The question is also why it took so long to finally deliver
military aid to Kobani6, said C;g=r ,med, a Kurdish :ournalist and activist) 5any
people here wonder about this) If such aid would have been made weeks ago, Isis
would have never been able to make it this far into the town)6
!ervin 9uldan, a Kurdish ! in the Turkish parliament, said that 5Turkey needed to
learn a lesson6 from the latest developments in &yria)
There should have been military aid from the very start, before people were killed and
before this problem had grown this much,6 he said) 5I think Turkey needs to learn a
lesson from this) It would be deplorable if Turkey would remain on the sidelines while
the balance in the iddle Dast is recalibrated) This is why it would have been more
meaningful if Turkey would have provided humanitarian, military and logistical aid to
Kobani from the very start)6
!osted by "ha#am a