Turkey's foreign minister
says it cannot be expected to lead a
ground operation against Islamic
State (IS) militants in Syria on its own.Mevlut Cavusoglu also called for the creation of a no-fly zone over its border with Syria after talks in Ankara with new Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg.
Turkey is under intense pressure to do more to help Kurdish forces fighting IS in the strategic Syrian town of Kobane.
Activists say IS now controls about a third of Kobane after fierce fighting.
Monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, quoting "reliable sources", said IS was advancing towards the centre of the town from eastern districts.
Director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP news agency that a Kurdish militia leader and several of his men were killed when jihadists overran their base in the north-east of the town.
The observatory said 42 IS fighters died in Kobane on Wednesday, including 23 in US-led coalition air strikes. Kurdish forces lost 15 fighters, the group said.
Air strikes continued overnight and into Thursday morning. Plumes of smoke could be seen rising over the town, also known as Ayn al-Arab.
Earlier, a Kurdish leader in Kobane said IS had entered two more districts overnight, bringing in heavy weapons.
Turkey has stationed tanks along its border overlooking the town, but has made no move to intervene.
Mr Cavusoglu was holding talks with Mr Stoltenberg and US envoys on possible Turkish action against IS.
"It is not realistic to expect Turkey to conduct a ground operation on its own," he told a news conference.
"We are holding talks. Once there is a common decision, Turkey will not hold back from playing its part."
Source:BBC

No comments:
Post a Comment