Turkey says FSA must be equipped and trained to rule in Kobani

Iran Press TV

Tue Oct 28, 2014 2:34PM

Turkey has called for the equipment of the so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA) to rule the Syrian border city of Kobani if ISIL Takfiri militants are flushed out of the Kurdish city.

'Equip and train the Free Syrian Army so that if ISIL leaves, the regime should not come, so that if ISIL leaves, PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) terrorists should not come,' Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in an interview with the BBC.

He also called on the US to equip and train the opposition group and oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power, suggesting that Turkey would offer its air bases to be used in the US-led airstrikes against the ISIL, only if such a strategy were pursued.

'We will help any forces, any coalition, through air bases [within Turkey] or through other means if we have a common understanding to have a new pluralistic, democratic Syria,' the Turkish premier added.

Ankara fears that Kobani could be taken over by Syrian Kurds allied to the PKK, a group that has been fighting for an autonomous Kurdish region in southeastern Turkey since the 1980s.

"Saving Kobani, retaking Kobani and some areas around Kobani from ISIL, there's a need for a military operation,' Davutoglu noted, adding, '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 [Syrian opposition forces].'

Last week, Iraqi Kurdistan's parliament voted in favor of sending Peshmerga forces to Kobani to help the Kurdish fighters in their battle against the ISIL.

However, Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) spokesman, Safeen Dizayee, said on Sunday that they will only provide the Kurdish forces in Kobani with artillery support and not with ground soldiers.

Kobani and its surroundings have been under attack since mid-September, with the ISIL militants capturing dozens of nearby Kurdish villages.

IA/KA/SS