CGTN America
The light of an explosion from an airstrike by the US-led coalition in Kobani, Syria, lights part of the town as seen from a hilltop on the outskirts of Suruc, at the Turkey-Syria border, Monday, Oct. 20, 2014 Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab, and its surrounding areas, has been under assault by extremists of the Islamic State group since mid-September and is being defended by Kurdish fighters. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
For the first time, Turkey will allow Kurdish Peshmerga from northern Iraq to enter Syria to join the battle against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. In recent days, the U.S.-led coalition pounded targets in and around the Syrian border town of Kobane. Military aircraft also made airdrops with weapons, ammunition, and medical supplies to Syrian Kurdish forces. CCTV America’s Natalie Carney reports from the Syria Turkey border.
The United States has downplayed the importance of Kobane so far. But if militants with the Islamic State manage to take control, it would be a significant set-back for the coalition in its efforts to stop ISIL.
Former ambassador James Dobbins joined the Heat to discuss the situation. Dobbins was the Ambassador to the European Union from 1991 to 1993, and is currently a senior fellow with the RAND Corporation.
Some 200,000 Syrians have fled their homes and taken refuge in Turkey. Militants with ISIL are fighting to expand their control of areas in Iraq and Syria. For more on the decision by Turkey to allow Iraqi Kurdish forces to pass through its border, the Heat spoke to Shwan Zulal, a political analyst and research associate at King’s College of London and Yavuz Baydar, a Turkish journalist and co-founder of P24, the Platform for Independent Media.
