Turkey pledges to defend Syrian Kurdish city from IS

Istanbul, Oct 3 (IANS/EFE) Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu vowed Friday that his country would do all it could to ensure that the Syrian border town of Kobani does not fall to the besieging forces of the Islamic State (IS) Sunni radical group.

"We don't want Kobani to fall," he said in an interview with CNN Turk television.

"We have opened our arms to the brothers who come from there (and) and it is up to us to see that Kobani does not fall," Davutoglu said.

The IS militants are just several hundred metres from the Syrian Kurdish city which is being defended by Kurdish irregulars.

 

On Friday, Turkish television showed images of artillery explosions on the city's outskirts.

Davutoglu noted that the government now had the authorisation of parliament to intervene in its neighbouring country following approval by legislators Thursday.

--IANS/EFE

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