Turkey is helping with the passage of Iraqi Kurdish
peshmerga fighters to Kobani to aid Syrian Kurds defending the town against
ISIS militants, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Monday.
Cavusoglu, speaking at a news conference, did not provide
details on the transfer of the fighters. Kobani has been surrounded by ISIS
militants for more than a month, and Turkey has until now refused calls from
Kurdish forces to allow arms to flow through its territory to help the
defenders.
Earlier, the U.S. military said it had air-dropped arms to the Syrian
Kurds in Kobani. Asked about U.S. airdrops, Cavusoglu said Turkey is fully
co-operating with the international coalition against the Islamic State in Iraq
and Syria.
"We are fully co-operating with the coalition with respect to
Kobani," he said. "We want the eliminate all kinds of threats in the
region, and we see the military and medical aid, outfitted by our Iraqi Kurdish
brothers and air dropped by the United States to all groups defending Kobani,
from that perspective."
Turkish Foreign Ministry officials said Turkish airspace was not used
during air drops carried out by the United States to support the Kurdish
fighters defending Kobani.
U.S. officials said on Sunday the air drops included medical supplies
and weapons provided by the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq.
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