Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his French counterpart Francois Hollande have issued a pointed challenge to other countries such as the US — the fight in Syria is not just against the Islamic State in areas like the Kurdish center of Kobane, but also against the Assad regime.
Erdoğan, who has proposed “safe havens” and no-fly zones in northern Syria, repeated his argument after a meeting with Hollande in Paris:
Why are coalition forces continually bombing this town of Kobane?
I have to highlight one particular issue, Kobane. Why [do we focus on] Kobane but not Idlib, Hama, Homs, or Iraq, 40% of which is under occupation? Why is no action being taken or no operations being conducted for these places but Kobane?
Since there are no civilians in Kobane, where there are only 2,000 fighters, why is that place constantly being bombed? It is impossible to understand.
Hollande nodded in agreement and told reporters that the “key town” in the struggle is Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, which has been divided between the regime and insurgents since July 2012.
However, he differed from Erdoğan on the importance of defending Kobane, about 40% of which is occupied by the Islamic State after a two-month assault: “Even if Kobane has been emptied of its population, it is necessary to provide it with the reinforcements necessary and in this regard, we have faith in Turkey,”
(Featured Photo: Reuters)
