Turkey helping Kurdish fighters cross into Kobani

In a significant shift, Turkey's top diplomat announced today that his country is helping Iraqi Kurdish fighters cross into Syria to "give support" to fellow Kurds defending the border town of Kobani from Islamic State militants.
The remarks by Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, at a press conference in Ankara, followed the announcement by the US military that it had for the first time airdropped weapons, ammunition and medical supplies provided by Kurdish authorities in Iraq to the Kurdish forces in Kobani.
Yesterday's airdrops followed weeks of US and coalition airstrikes in and near Kobani, along the Syrian-Turkish border. There was no immediate confirmation by Kurdish officials of the airdrop or what kind of weapons it included.

It was thought the airdrops would almost certainly anger the Turkish government, which has said it would oppose any US arms transfers to the Kurdish rebels in Syria.
Ankara views the main Kurdish group in Syria as an extension of the Turkish Kurd group known as the PKK, which has waged a 30-year insurgency in Turkey and is designated a terror group by the US and by NATO.
But the US military's announcement of the airdrops, coupled with the Turkish foreign minister's statements, is an unexpected development.

It suggests Turkey may be softening its stance on the issue of helping the Syrian Kurds. But although a significant departure from previous positions, it is not a complete change of policy since allowing Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga forces to cross into Syria is different from allowing Turkish PKK forces into Kobani.

Cavusoglu did not provide details and it was not immediately clear where and how Turkey was allowing Kurdish fighters into Syria, after blocking them so long or whether this had already happened or was still to take place.
"Iraq's Kurdish Regional Government announced that they are in cooperation with Turkey and the US," Cavusoglu said.
"Actually, we are helping peshmerga forces to enter into Kobani to give support," he added, speaking at a joint news conference with visiting Tunisian Foreign Minister Mongi Hamdi.
In Iraq, meanwhile, the local Kurdish government in the country's north confirmed the weapons deliveries and expressed gratitude to Washingron.