LATEST: Peaceful Protests for Syrian Kurdish Center of Kobane on Thursday

Turkey’s authorities are planning to expel 170 Syrian Kurdish refugees, many of whom have been on hunger strike, according to an MP of the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party.

Ibrahim Ayman said the group, held in a Turkish detention center in the border town of Suruc, will be forced to return to Syria over the coming days. Approximately 100 of the 270 Syrian Kurds arrested last week have already been expelled from Turkey over alleged ties to the Turkish Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Ayman said the Kurds did not want to the besieged town of Kobane or other Kurdish cantons in northern Syria.

Local officials in Suruç refused to comment.

Turkey Allowing US Drones To Fly, But Holding Out Against Manned Missions

US officials, discussing the ongoing negotiations with Turkey over aerial intervention in Syria, say Ankara is allowing drone surveillance flights but is still refusing permission for manned missions.

A US official spoke of the situation over the Incirlik base:

They have not objected to just about anything on the surveillance side. The fights have been about manned aircraft coming in and out.

An advisor to Turkey’s Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Cemal Hasimi, told a British newspaper that a comprehensive program for confronting the Islamic State is necesary:

While we are concerned about the tragedy in Kobane, we believe that fighting this terrorism there has somehow turned into a PR campaign. Honestly we are tired of all this ‘raising of awareness’ at certain moments — dropping a couple of bombs is not enough.

Air strikes are necessary but if you don’t have a political perspective on the future of Syria, aerial bombardment is not enough and Kobane is not going to be the last town which will be attacked in this way.

(Cross-posted from Syria Daily)

Peaceful Protests for Syrian Kurdish Center of Kobane on Thursday

Three large protests were held on Thursday demanding support for the Syrian Kurdish center of Kobane, besieged by the Islamic State.

The demonstrations — in Izmir’s Kocaeli University; Adana’s Cukurova University; and in central Ankara along Yuksel Street — took place without any conflict with security forces.

Several hundred people also gathered in Istanbul’s Yogurtcu Park in memory Nejat Agirnasli, a 30-year-old graduate student who was killed during a protest at the city’s Bogazici University on October 7.

Kurdish Protester Dies from Injuries in October 9 Clashes

A Kurdish protester has died from injuries suffered on October 9 during demonstrations over the Islamic State’s offensive against the Syrian Kurdish center of Kobane.

Aynur Kudin died from a brain hemorrhage after being hit in the head with a tear gas canister.

At least 37 people were killed during the demonstrations, demanding Ankara provide assistance to the Syrian Kurds and allow Turkish counterparts to cross the border.