BBC Online :
Turkey’s foreign minister says it cannot be expected to lead a ground operation against Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria on its own.
Mevlut Cavusoglu also called for the creation of a no-fly zone over its border with Syria after talks in Ankara with new Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg.
Turkey is under intense pressure to do more to help Kurdish forces fighting IS in the strategic Syrian town of Kobane. Activists say IS now controls about a third of Kobane after fierce fighting.
Monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, quoting “reliable sources”, said IS was advancing towards the centre of the town from eastern districts.
We’re standing on a hill in Mursitpinar, Turkey, overlooking Kobane. The east of the city is shrouded in smoke.
We’ve heard reports that IS are setting fire to buildings to create a screen from the aeroplanes we hear almost constantly overhead. Those planes continue to strike to the west of the city.
Towers of black smoke have been burning for the past few hours on the top of Mistanour hill, which is under IS control.
Our Kurdish sources inside Kobane tell us that the Syrian Kurdish YPG have advanced in the east and that a group of Free Syrian Army
fighters moved behind IS lines causing heavy losses. But the big black IS flag still flies on a small hill and a building in the far east of Kobane.
Director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP news agency that a Kurdish militia leader and several of his men were killed when jihadists overran their base in the north-east of the town.
The observatory said 42 IS fighters died in Kobane on Wednesday, including 23 in US-led coalition air strikes. Kurdish forces lost 15 fighters, the group said. Air strikes continued overnight and into Thursday morning. Plumes of smoke could be seen rising over the town, also known as Ayn al-Arab.
US Central Command confirmed that five strikes had been carried out south of Kobane during Wednesday and Thursday. They destroyed an IS training camp, support building and two vehicles, and also hit two IS units.
Turkey has often spoken about establishing buffer zones inside Syria – both to protect its own borders and to provide areas where refugees could gather safely. But creating such zones would represent a significant military operation requiring the seizure of defendable terrain.
This might require an incursion into Syria of some significant depth and Turkish forces would immediately become targets for IS fighters.
Turkey has always argued that such a buffer zone must be accompanied by a no-fly zone to protect against the Syrian Air Force. Turkey’s thinking was forged at a time when it saw the Assad regime as the main enemy. The US might argue that against IS – which has no air force – such an exclusion zone is irrelevant.
But this all goes to the central differences between Ankara and Washington, with the Turks insisting that the anti-IS campaign must be accompanied by stepped up measures against the Assad regime as well.
Earlier, a Kurdish leader in Kobane said IS had entered two more districts overnight, bringing in heavy weapons.
Turkey has stationed tanks along its border overlooking the town, but has made no move to intervene.
Turkey’s foreign minister says it cannot be expected to lead a ground operation against Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria on its own.
Mevlut Cavusoglu also called for the creation of a no-fly zone over its border with Syria after talks in Ankara with new Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg.
Turkey is under intense pressure to do more to help Kurdish forces fighting IS in the strategic Syrian town of Kobane. Activists say IS now controls about a third of Kobane after fierce fighting.
Monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, quoting “reliable sources”, said IS was advancing towards the centre of the town from eastern districts.
We’re standing on a hill in Mursitpinar, Turkey, overlooking Kobane. The east of the city is shrouded in smoke.
We’ve heard reports that IS are setting fire to buildings to create a screen from the aeroplanes we hear almost constantly overhead. Those planes continue to strike to the west of the city.
Towers of black smoke have been burning for the past few hours on the top of Mistanour hill, which is under IS control.
Our Kurdish sources inside Kobane tell us that the Syrian Kurdish YPG have advanced in the east and that a group of Free Syrian Army
fighters moved behind IS lines causing heavy losses. But the big black IS flag still flies on a small hill and a building in the far east of Kobane.
Director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP news agency that a Kurdish militia leader and several of his men were killed when jihadists overran their base in the north-east of the town.
The observatory said 42 IS fighters died in Kobane on Wednesday, including 23 in US-led coalition air strikes. Kurdish forces lost 15 fighters, the group said. Air strikes continued overnight and into Thursday morning. Plumes of smoke could be seen rising over the town, also known as Ayn al-Arab.
US Central Command confirmed that five strikes had been carried out south of Kobane during Wednesday and Thursday. They destroyed an IS training camp, support building and two vehicles, and also hit two IS units.
Turkey has often spoken about establishing buffer zones inside Syria – both to protect its own borders and to provide areas where refugees could gather safely. But creating such zones would represent a significant military operation requiring the seizure of defendable terrain.
This might require an incursion into Syria of some significant depth and Turkish forces would immediately become targets for IS fighters.
Turkey has always argued that such a buffer zone must be accompanied by a no-fly zone to protect against the Syrian Air Force. Turkey’s thinking was forged at a time when it saw the Assad regime as the main enemy. The US might argue that against IS – which has no air force – such an exclusion zone is irrelevant.
But this all goes to the central differences between Ankara and Washington, with the Turks insisting that the anti-IS campaign must be accompanied by stepped up measures against the Assad regime as well.
Earlier, a Kurdish leader in Kobane said IS had entered two more districts overnight, bringing in heavy weapons.
Turkey has stationed tanks along its border overlooking the town, but has made no move to intervene.
