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Turkey clears way for Kurdish reinforcements to battle Islamic State Turkey clears way for Iraqi Kurdish troops to battle Islamic State in Kobane, Syria
(about 9 hours later)
SANLIURFA, Turkey — Turkey agreed on Monday to allow passage for Iraqi Kurdish fighters seeking to join Syrian Kurds battling the Islamic State, signaling another potential boost for embattled Kobane after U.S. airdrops of weapons and ammunition. MURSITPINAR, Turkey — Turkey said Monday that it would allow Iraqi Kurdish fighters to cross its border into the besieged Syrian town of Kobane, where Syrian Kurds are battling Islamic State militants.
But Turkish government officials stressed there was still no firm deal in place. Kurds defending the Syrian border town also said they had not yet cleared the way for Iraqi Kurds — underscoring deep Kurdish differences despite their common enemy. The opening of a land corridor would be another potential boost for the Kobane defenders following U.S. airdrops of weapons, ammunition and medical supplies to them late Sunday.
Still, the decision by NATO-member Turkey marks a possible breakthrough in its political calculations over aiding the U.S.-led battles against the Islamic State, a radical al-Qaeda offshoot also known as ISIS or ISIL. But the deal, the subject of intensive U.S. diplomatic talks over the past week, also depends on whether the separate Kurdish groups can resolve their deep differences in the interest of confronting a common enemy.
A major consideration for Turkey is the interconnection between various factions of Kurds, whose ethnic homeland spreads across Syria, Turkey, Iraq and Iran. Turkey had opposed delivering weapons to Kobane’s Syrian Kurds because of their affiliations with a Kurdish group in Turkey that began an insurgency three decades ago. The tentative nature of the agreement reflected the convoluted history and political calculations of all parties, particularly the Kurds, whose ethnic homeland spreads across Syria, Turkey, Iraq and Iran.
Kurds have their own rifts to overcome. The main Syrian Kurdish party is wary that its power could be undermined by allowing in the more politically connected Iraqi Kurds, who maintain close ties with the West. Turkey had opposed delivering weapons to Kobane’s Syrian Kurds because of their affiliations with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a group based in southeastern Turkey that has fought Turkish forces since the mid-1980s, seeking greater autonomy. Its leaders have threatened to tear up a recent peace accord with Turkey if Kobane falls.
Idriss Nasaan, deputy foreign minister in the self-styled Kurdish government of Kobane, said the Iraqi Kurdish fighters would only be welcome if they “agree to fight under the command’’ of the Syrian Kurds. Turkey and the United States have declared the PKK a terrorist organization, raising additional complications for American policymakers.
Despite the complications in opening a route for reinforcements, the U.S.-dropped supplies gave an immediate boost in the battle for Kobane, which is within sight of the Turkish border and has been the target of escalating American-led airstrikes. While the United States understands Turkey’s concerns, Secretary of State John F. Kerry said Monday during a visit to Indonesia, “we cannot take our eyes 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, as hard as it is, at this particular moment.” ISIL is one of several acronyms for the Islamic State.
One of the air attacks Monday blasted a “stray” shipment from the U.S. airdrop to prevent “these supplies from falling into enemy hands,” the U.S. Central Command said. For its part, the main Syrian Kurdish party, called the PYD, is wary that its power could be undermined by allowing the more politically connected Iraqi Kurds, who maintain close ties with the West and relatively good relations with Turkey, to join their fight.
Last week, Kurds in Kobane said they had turned the tide of the battle and forced the Islamic State from several areas of the town. But Syrian Kurds also warned they were running low on weapons and ammunition. Idriss Nasaan, a spokesman for the Kobane Kurds, said the Iraqi Kurdish fighters will be welcome only if they “agree to fight under the command” of the local leadership.
The U.S. airdrops overnight Sunday followed a telephone call between President Obama and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was informed about the mission. Kerry acknowledged that the fighters in Kobane “are an offshoot group of the folks that our friends, the Turks, oppose.” But, he said, “they are valiantly fighting ISIL.”
Hours later, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Turkey would also allow Iraqi Kurdish fighters, known as pesh merga, to cross into Syria to fight alongside the Syrian Kurds. As recently as last week, the Obama administration said that control of Kobane was not a “strategic” objective for U.S.-led forces conducting airstrikes against the Islamic State and that operations there were humanitarian in nature. But with militant forces surging toward the town, U.S. commanders have also stepped up airstrikes.
“We never wanted Kobane to fall,” Cavusoglu told a news conference in the Turkish capital, Ankara. American warplanes have now struck the area around Kobane more than 135 times, far more than any other location since strikes began in Syria at the beginning of this month. Those strikes continued Monday, including one that U.S. Central Command said blasted a “stray” shipment from the American airdrop to prevent “these supplies from falling into enemy hands.”
The deal followed days of talks in the Iraqi Kurdish city of Dahuk between Syrian and Iraqi Kurdish factions as well as U.S. officials. The administration has said repeatedly that airstrikes are not enough, and that defeating the Islamic State in both Syria and Iraq will depend on local ground forces.
The Kobane fighters are affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, a group based in southeastern Turkey that has fought Turkish forces since the mid-1980s, seeking greater autonomy. Its leaders have threatened to tear up a recent peace accord with Turkey if Kobane fell. Turkey had tentatively agreed late last week to allow the Iraqi Kurdish fighters, called pesh merga, to travel to Kobane. The deal was nearly upset, however, when U.S. officials publicly acknowledged that they had held direct talks with representatives of the Syrian Kurds.
Both Turkey and the United States have declared the PKK a terrorist organization, raising additional wrinkles for American policymakers. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters Saturday that he considered the Syrian PYD “the same as the PKK, and that is a terrorist organization.” Referring to reports that the United States was considering sending arms directly to the Syrian Kurdish fighters, Erdogan said that “it would be wrong” to expect full Turkish participation in the coalition against the Islamic State “if a friendly country and a NATO ally like the U.S. openly admits such support for a terrorist organization.”
The airdrops — totaling what officials said were 27 “bundles” of supplies delivered by three C-130 cargo planes — followed a week of intensive U.S. and coalition airstrikes against militant forces in and around Kobane. But when the situation in Kobane worsened, the administration feared that the town would be lost to the militants before any deal could be implemented.
U.S. officials did not specify where the planes took off, but said the operation lasted about four hours. The C-130s, which fly low and slowly, were not accompanied by fighter jets, they said, because the Islamic State is not thought to have antiaircraft weapons. Under a barrage of Islamic State mortar fire over the weekend, the Kobane defenders warned that they were nearly out of ammunition, according to senior administration officials. The Pentagon told the White House it could drop emergency supplies into the town, amid administration concern that the Turks would back out.
Over the past week, the administration has tried unsuccessfully to persuade Turkey to open its border to the resupply. Turkey’s agreement stood, however, after Obama called Erdogan late Saturday to tell him that the planned airdrop was an emergency measure only and did not constitute a change in U.S. policy. Officials said the arms themselves had come from the Iraqi Kurds and were not “U.S.-produced” weapons.
Secretary of State John F. Kerry said he understood Turkey’s delicate situation with the PKK, but he stressed that it would be “irresponsible” not to send aid to the Kurdish fighters in Kobane. The primary weapon used by the pesh merga is the Russian-made AK-47 assault rifle, and the United States previously arranged for Albania and other former Soviet-bloc countries that are now part of NATO to provide those fighters with additional supplies. The airdrops to the Syrian Kurds, who also use AK-47s, came from those Albanian shipments, said a senior U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to provide information beyond that included in official statements.
“It 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,” he said in Jakarta, Indonesia. Early Monday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the pesh merga would be allowed to cross into Kobane. “We never wanted Kobane to fall,” Cavusoglu told reporters in the Turkish capital, Ankara.
The Syrian Kurds in Kobane “are valiantly fighting ISIL and we cannot take our eye off the prize here,” Kerry added. Although Turkish media reported that the movement of the Iraqi forces into Kobane had already begun, U.S. officials said they expected the next 24 hours to be decisive in reaching a firm agreement among all parties, including the Syrian Kurds.
Turkey also has tried to leverage its support for the coalition effort to secure a U.S. pledge to expand its military campaign against the Islamic State to a fight against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The president of Iraq’s Kurdish region, Massoud Barzani, ordered pesh merga units “to be deployed in Kobane in the next 48 hours via Turkey,” according to a Monday statement sent via Twitter by Hemin Hawrami, the foreign relations chief of Barzani’s ruling political party.
The Turkish foreign minister Cavusoglu said further concessions are sought from the Syrian Kurds. Turkey wants to them to unite against Assad and give up demands for autonomy over their region in order to receive Turkish aid. Turkey also has tried to leverage its support for the coalition effort to secure a U.S. pledge to expand its military campaign against the Islamic State into a fight against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
DeYoung reported from Washington. Missy Ryan and Brian Murphy in Washington contributed to this report. Cavusoglu said Turkey also wants Syrian Kurds to unite against Assad and give up demands for autonomy over their region in order to receive Turkish aid.
But those longer-term concerns have clearly been overridden in recent days by events in Kobane. “It is a crisis moment,” Kerry said, “an emergency where we clearly do not want to see Kobane become a horrible example of the unwillingness of people to be able to help those who are fighting ISIL.”
DeYoung reported from Washington. Brian Murphy in Washington contributed to this report.