Turkish Honour
"You remember Srebrenica? We do. We never forgot. And probably we never forgave ourselves for that [the 1995 slaughter of thousands of Muslims by Bosnian Serb forces]."
Staffan de Mistura, United Nations special envoy for Syria, Geneva
| Smoke rises after an U.S.-led air strike in the Syrian town of Kobani, Ocotber 8, 2014. REUTERS/Umit Bekas |
Appealing to Turkey to allow Kurdish fighters and their equipment into Kobani and to themselves use their military to "contribute to a self-defence operation", since coalition airstrikes in isolation "may not be enough to save the city", was a useless, but no doubt feel-good exercise in hopeless diplomacy. Turkey has no intention of permitting Turkish Kurds to cross the border into Syria and travel the scant kilometre to help push back the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham.
Which, by the latest estimates has now taken at least fifty percent of Kobani. NATO-member Turkey appears unperturbed by the emerging reality that their border with Syria will henceforth be occupied by the pathologically hysterical world-class fanatics that Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government at his urging has been encouraging, while sternly denying any such thing, since it wouldn't do at all for a NATO member-country to ditch all the values Turkey pretends to uphold.
The jihadists are now in control of an area that had housed administrative and security buildings belonging to the Kurdish community. The extremist Islamofascists were steadily advancing to increase their now 50% share in control of Kobani. In control now of the eastern and western parts of Kobani they are now pincering toward its southern entrance. ISIS fighters can be seen completing its encirclement of the city.
Should Kobani fall as it appears it will, this would be devastating to Kurdish autonomy in the region. The Syrian government appears to have surrendered control of large swaths of territory to rebels during the years of the country's uncompromising civil war. The siege of three weeks' duration has taken a dreadful toll on the Kurds and the civilians where 170,000 have fled their homes. The coalition strikes have produced a slight set-back, but no substantial gains.
ISIS has managed to resupply its fighters with arms, and has sent in reinforcements, even while the U.S. Central Command carries out airstrikes purportedly on ISIS positions. The town's elderly are trapped in the centre along with 12,000 other civilians and Kurdish fighters. All of whom are likely to be slaughtered should the city fall to the Islamists.
Turkey has maintained its troops on the border, doing nothing but witnessing the mayhem a kilometre distant. Only humanitarian supplies will be permitted to cross, according to Turkish authorities. Yet the reality is, even humanitarian supplies have been stopped at the border. Turkey is unwilling to aid the Kurds in any manner; not militarily, not humanitarian.
Turkey's main western and southeastern cities have seen large Kurdish protests erupt and that's where Turkey's military and security apparatus comes into play; tear-gassing and live-ammunition shots at the Kurdish Turks. Some thirty of whom have paid for their outrage with their lives.
Even while the battle in Kobani rages on, some ten thousand terrified refugees are trapped on the Syrian side of the border with Turkey refusing them entry, leaving them endangered. The refugees are suffering hunger and privation, and some may have died in recent days from starvation, and through stepping on land mines.
Some Kurdish fighters, brought to the border from Kobani bled to death from easily treatable wounds, when they were refused access into Turkey. Compare that to Israel treating wounded Syrian combatants.
Labels: Conflict, Humanitarian Aid, Intervention, Islamic State, Syria, Turkey
posted by Pieface @ Monday, October 13, 2014
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