Turkish Forces Clash With Kurds Trying to Cross Into Syria

[Purveyor]

By Selcan Hacaoglu Sep 22, 2014 10:59 AM ET

Turkish troops fired teargas to disperse a crowd of Kurds seeking to cross the border into Syria and repel an Islamic State onslaught against that country’s Kurdish minority.

Live footage from Turkey’s border with Syria on SkyNews Arabia showed troops in anti-riot gear deploying water cannons against protesters, some of whom were pelting security forces with projectiles in the second day of clashes in the area. Kurdistan’s Worker’s Party or PKK, Turkey’s main Kurdish organization, has called for volunteers to defend Syria’s Kurds from militant attack.

--clip
Islamic State militants now control more than one-third of Turkey’s 900-kilometer-long border with Syria, Kurtulmus, the deputy Turkish premier, said today. Turkish troops captured two French citizens and “their children” as they attempted to cross the border, Anadolu Agency said today. The US is pressing Turkey to impose tighter curbs on border crossings into Syria to stop foreign fighters joining Islamic State.

Kurtulmus said creating a coalition of countries to fight Islamic State would not eliminate the threat in the region because it was the “sidelining of the will of Sunni people in political process that led to the formation of structures like Islamic State,” according to Anadolu.

more...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-22/turkish-forces-clash-with-kurds-trying-to-cross-into-syria.html

[kelliekat44]

1. Ok, so maybe we will go to war with Turkey? nt

[Purveyor]

2. The Pope may very well be right with his WWIII comments a week or so ago. eom

[dipsydoodle]

3. Rec'd for attention.

Bit sad that.

[dipsydoodle]

4. Isis onslaught against Kurds in Syria brings ‘man-made disaster’ into Turkey

In the small bus shuttling passengers between Gaziantep and the small predominantly Kurdish border town of Suruç, all conversation is focused on one topic only.

“Suruç is teeming,” says Izzettin Abdi Hacirashad, 51, a spare parts trader. “In the parks, the bus station, the streets. Everywhere. You will see.”

An estimated 130,000 refugees have crossed into Turkey over the past few days escaping the onslaught of Islamic State (Isis) militants who have pushed deep into Syrian Kurdish territory in their latest offensive, bringing the murderous conflict closer to the Turkish border.

The Turkish deputy prime minister, Numan Kurtulmuş, spoke on Monday of a “man-made disaster”. “This is not a natural disaster,” he said. “We don’t know how many more people may be forced to seek refuge … an uncontrollable force on the other side of the border is attacking civilians. The extent of the disaster is worse than a natural disaster.”

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/22/isis-onslaught-kurds-syria-disaster-turkey-refugees

[geek tragedy]

5. Turks are de facto allies of ISIS.

Why are they allowed to remain in NATO?

[Comrade Grumpy]

6. Funny, they never stopped all the jihadis from crossing the border.

Turkey's hands are way dirty in all this.