Kurds Hoping To Fight ISIS In Kobani Are Trapped By Turkish Suspicions
Syrian defenders of the mainly Kurdish border town of Kobani say an increase in coalition airstrikes — and better coordination with the air support — have helped them hold off the more heavily armed fighters from the so-called Islamic State.
Each day, cars and vans carrying Kobani residents, Turkish Kurds and journalists climb over the rock-strewn paths on the edge of plowed fields, avoiding Turkish military roadblocks to reach the hills overlooking the Syrian border and the town of Kobani.
With only a few units from the Free Syrian Army joining Kobani's Kurdish defenders on the ground, Syrian Kurds say Turkey should open a corridor and let fighters and weapons in. Instead, they say, Turkish authorities are detaining young Kurdish men on suspicion of terrorism.
Mustafa Ali has a relative among the fighters still in Kobani. The 38-year-old Ali came to Turkey about a week ago, after being stuck for three days at the border while ISIS shells landed not far away. He doesn't think Turkey will overcome its suspicion of all Kurds and intervene to save Kobani — unless it gets a push from outside.
"If the international community forces Turkey to support Kobani, it will," Ali says. "But without pressure from the Americans and the Europeans they won't, because Turkey thinks both sides in this fight are terrorists."
Kurds sit in formation to form the initials of the People's Protection Unit, or YPG, the main Kurdish militia in Syria, on a hilltop overlooking Kobani just over the border, in support of Syrian Kurds fighting ISIS, on Wednesday. Turkey believes the People's Protection Unit have ties to a Kurdish group in Turkey that is the Turkish government considers a terrorist organization.
Turkish Suspicion
Adding to the pain of watching their town be destroyed a little more each day is the clear knowledge that those fleeing Kobani aren't welcome in Turkey. Ali says that Kurdish men, especially younger ones, routinely are stopped at the border, and that many then are taken by Turkish authorities to detention centers, where they're not charged with anything but are investigated on suspicion of terrorism.
"I know some of the guys who have been detained. They are political guys from Kobani, members of various Kurdish political parties, and the Turks caught them and held them," Ali says. "I was told there were as many as 200 of them, but some chose to go back to Syria."
In one of the newest refugee camps for Kobani residents to spring up, in the border town of Suruc, Turkish hosts are digging trenches between the neat rows of family-sized gray tents to lay electric cables. Kobani families appreciate the shelter they've been given, but 34-year-old Mohammed Sheikh al-Muslim says the way the Turks are treating the detained Kurdish men is unjust.
He calls one of them, Walid Yasser, 25, who says he was detained 11 days ago.
"They gave us three choices — Jazeera, Qameshli or Afrin," he says, meaning they could pick one of three Kurdish enclaves in northern Syria to which they would be returned.
Yasser says it's because the Turks think they're with the People's Protection Units, the Syrian Kurds linked to Turkey's own Kurdish militants, known as the PKK. He says he has nothing to do with any of that, but the Turks don't believe him.
On the hill overlooking the border, Kurdish men who fled Kobani have arranged themselves in columns and chant support for the defenders of their town.
They say they're ready to fight ISIS with stones, if necessary, but while the display may look impressive on television, these men know that they won't be crossing any borders tonight — and that they'll have to come back again the next day to watch their homes take another pounding.
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Transcript
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Now to a very different kind of fight - the battle against ISIS. Fighters defending the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani say coalition airstrikes are helping them hold off ISIS militants. But Kobani's defenders say what they really need is for Turkey to open its border and allow Turkish Kurd fighters in to help them break the siege. Instead Turkish authorities are detaining those Kurds as potential terrorists. NPR's Peter Kenyon has more.
PETER KENYON, BYLINE: Each day the cars and vans climb over the rock-strewn paths and farm fields, avoiding Turkish military roadblocks to reach the hills overlooking the Syrian border in the town Kobani. The coalition airstrikes continue to do damage, and Kurdish activists say there's now some level of coordination between the defenders on the ground and those providing air support. That claim was not confirmed by the U.S. military.
Thirty-eight year-old Mustafa Ali is on the phone with a relative who's among the fighters still in Kobani. Ali himself came to Turkey about a week ago after being stuck for three days at the border while ISIS shells landed not far away. He doesn't think Turkey will overcome its suspicion of all Kurds and intervene to save Kobani unless it gets the push from outside. As he speaks, the sound of automatic-weapon fire floats across the border.
MUSTAFA ALI: (Through translator) If the international community forces Turkey to support Kobani, it will, but without pressure from the Americans and the Europeans, they won't because Turkey thinks both sides in this fight are terrorists.
KENYON: Adding to the pain of watching their town be destroyed a little more each day is the clear knowledge that they're not welcomed here. Ali says Kurdish men, especially younger ones, are routinely stopped at the border and many are then taken by Turkish authorities to detention centers where they're not charged with anything but investigated on suspicion of terrorism.
ALI: (Through translator) I know some of the guys who've been detained. They are political guys from Kobani, members of various Kurdish political parties, and the Turks caught them and held them. I was told there were as many as 200 of them. Some chose to go back to Syria.
KENYON: In one of the newest refugee camps to spring up in the border town of Suruc, it's a relatively happy day as these things go. Their Turkish hosts are digging trenches between the neat rows of family-sized, gray tents to lay electric cables. Kobani families appreciate the shelter they've been given, but 34-year-old Mohammed Sheikh al-Muslim says the way the Turks are treating the detained Kurdish men is unjust. He calls on of the detainees on the phone.
WALID YASSER: (Foreign language spoken).
KENYON: Twenty-five-year-old Walid Yasser says he was detained 11 days ago. He says the Turkish officials gave them three choices, all of which involved being sent back to one of the Kurdish enclaves in northern Syria. Yasser says it's because the Turks think they're with the People's Protection Units, the Syrian Kurds linked to Turkey's own Kurdish militants, known as the PKK. He claims he has nothing to do with any of that, but the Turks don't believe him.
(SOUNDBITE OF CHANTING)
KENYON: On the hill overlooking the border, Kurdish men who fled Kobani have arranged themselves in columns and chant support for the defenders of their town. They say they're ready to fight ISIS with stones if necessary, but while the display may look impressive on television, these men know they won't be crossing any borders tonight. They'll be back again tomorrow to watch their homes take another pounding. Peter Kenyon, NPR News, southeastern Turkey. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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