A man gives water to an elderly Syrian Kurd woman after crossing the border between... Read More
Kobani, spared the worst of the Syrian civil war, is under siege by the militant group, which is using tanks and artillery, according to the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The fighting has forced 130,000 people to cross the border into Turkey, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said today in Ankara.
Kurds in Syria are the latest minority targeted by the al-Qaeda breakaway group, which has rampaged through the country and neighboring Iraq, redrawing borders imposed by colonial powers after World War I. The fighting pits Islamic State against the a
rmed wing of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party, PYD. Links between the group and a Turkish-Kurd party classified as a terrorist movement by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union may complicate efforts to intervene against Islamic State, according to political analysts in the Middle East.
“The question for U.S. policy is if both groups that are fighting may be listed as terrorist groups, how do you deal with that?” said James Fallon, senior Middle East analyst at Control Risks in Dubai. “Turkey is also an ally that the U.S. wants to have on side before having the PYD on side.”
A man carries an elderly Syrian Kurd after crossing the border between Syria and Turkey... Read More
Border Clashes
The U.S. is concerned about Islamic State’s onslaught against the Kurds and remains committed to responding to the humanitarian needs of its victims, a State Department official said, requesting anonymity to discuss the issue. President Barack Obama’s administration has said it plans to expand air strikes against the militant group in Iraq to include targets in Syria.Turkish paramilitary forces used tear gas and fired shots in the air yesterday to disperse hundreds of Kurds who tried to cross the border into Syria to help with the fight against Islamic State, Turkey’s Hurriyet newspaper reported. Turkey closed some of its border crossings with Syria after the clashes, the BBC reported, citing the UN refugee agency.
The militant group has captured more than 60 villages around Kobani, also known as Ayn al-Arab, in the past week, according to the observatory, which relies on witness accounts to document Syria’s civil war. At least 39 gunmen have been killed in clashes with Kurdish forces in the past 48 hours, it said yesterday. Battles also broke out between Kurdish fighters and the militant group in the northeastern Al-Hasaka province.
A Syrian Kurd pours water on a child after crossing the border between Syria and Turkey... Read More
‘Entire Border’
“The push shows the strength of Islamic State and its ability to disrupt daily life and force refugee flow,” Theodore Karasik, director of research at the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis in Dubai, said by phone. Islamic State “ultimately wants to control the entire border with Turkey,” he said.Before Islamic State’s onslaught, Kobani had provided refuge to as many as 200,000 internally displaced people from around Syria, according to the United Nations refugee agency. The PYD declared a transitional administration in November 2013, an unprecedented move for Kurds in Syria, the International Crisis Group think tank said in a May report.
The PYD struggled to stop Islamic State, which has been emboldened by its recent successes in Iraq, where it captured the country’s biggest northern city in June. It also expelled Syrian government forces from al-Raqqa province, where the capital of its so-called Islamic caliphate is located.
Getting Ready
The UN refugee agency said Sept. 20 it’s working alongside Turkish authorities to prepare for “the possibility of hundreds of thousands more refugees arriving over the coming days.”Turkey will seek to limit its assistance to Syrian Kurds to humanitarian aid, according to Atilla Sandikli, a former army officer and chairman of the Istanbul-based policy group Bilgesam.
“Turkey is trying to preserve its neutrality as Islamic State fights PKK’s spin-off in Syria,” he said by phone yesterday, referring to the Kurdistan Workers Party. “If it backs Islamic State, it would see its peace process with Kurds derailed and if it backs PYD then it amounts to backing PKK and inviting terrorist attacks possibly by Islamic militants deep inside Turkey.”
Hostages Freed
Islamic State freed 46 Turkish citizens and three Iraqis taken hostage in Mosul in June. The hostages, including Consul General Ozturk Yilmaz, were handed to Turkish agents without a fight. Turkey didn’t pay a ransom to secure their release, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday.Turkey had been reluctant to provide military help to a U.S.-led coalition while the hostage standoff persisted, although the country has confirmed sharing intelligence with allies about the Islamist group.
Iraqi Kurdish forces, known as the Peshmerga, are awaiting orders to aid Kurds in Syria, spokesman Halgourd Hikmat said by phone. Massoud Barzani, president of the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, has said the international community should “take every measure as soon as possible,” according to a statement on his website.
Iraqi Kurds
The Peshmerga have managed to recapture some of the territories lost to Islamic State in Iraq with the help of U.S. air strikes. U.S. fighter jets have also been providing air cover to Iraqi government forces.The lack of domestic partners in Syria may delay similar U.S. action, said Fallon of Control Risks.
“Humanitarian concerns often form part of U.S. foreign policy decisions but it’s not the only driver in the action that the U.S. has taken to defend minorities in Iraq,” he said. “They also had local partners to underwrite the action.”
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