Ukraine in Arabic | Peshmerga fighters and Syrian opposition to save Kobani
KYIV/Ukraine in Arabic/ Turkey cannot be expected to send troops to defend the besieged Syrian border town of Kobani and only Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and Syria's own moderate opposition can save it, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said.
Now, Iraqi Kurdish forces are travelling to Turkey, from where they plan to cross into Syria to battle Islamic State (IS) militants besieging the town of Kobani.
Officials said a plane carrying 150 Peshmerga had left Irbil. Their heavy weapons will be transported by land.
Their deployment has reportedly been held up by a dispute between Turkey and the Syrian Kurdish fighters in Kobani.
Earlier, the Turkish prime minister rejected claims that he was not doing enough to end the jihadists' assault.
"Saving Kobani, retaking Kobani and some area around Kobani from [IS], there's a need for a military operation," Ahmet Davutoglu told.
But he made clear that Turkey would only take part once the US-led coalition against IS had an "integrated strategy" that included action against the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
"The only way to help Kobani, since other countries don't want to use ground troops, is sending some peace-oriented or moderate troops to Kobani. What are they? Peshmerga... and Free Syrian Army," he added, referring to the Western-backed rebel umbrella group.
The battle for Kobani, a predominantly Kurdish town on Syria's border with Turkey, has emerged as a major test of whether the coalition's air campaign can push back IS.
Weeks of air strikes in and around Kobani have allowed Kurdish fighters to hold off the jihadists' offensive, but clashes continued on Tuesday and a Kurdish commander said IS still controlled 40% of the town.
The US Central Command said it had conducted four strikes there on Tuesday, destroying a small IS unit and four fighting positions.