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The United States on Tuesday said that it was “horrific” watching the battle of Syrian Kurdish town Kobane in real time and insisted that it doesn’t want the town to fall to the Islamic State (IS). The three-week siege of Kobane seems to be on the verge of ending soon, despite the efforts of the US-led coalition in the town.
US Secretary of State John Kerry spoke to Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu late on Monday and on Tuesday about the crisis, with Kerry’s spokeswoman saying that it was “it’s horrific for everyone to watch in real time what’s happening in Kobane”.
According to sources, the US State Department feels that it is going to be a challenge to get Turkey to provide military help to Kobane, which lies on the Syrian-Turkish border. Turkey may be wary of moves that could embolden Kurdish separatism. Kurds have accused Ankara of taking no action as towns are being overrun by IS militants, despite having several tanks placed on the border.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said that Washington was “very concerned” about the safety of civilians in Kobane.
“Once again, we are seeing this extremist organization, in the name of an otherwise peaceful religion, Islam, perpetrating terrible acts of violence against religious and ethnic minorities.This is something we remain concerned about”, he said.
US State department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said, “I think Turkey is determining what larger role they’ll play broadly as a part of the coalition moving forward”.
When asked if it was a US priority to save the city, Psaki said, “Certainly, no one wants to see Kobane fall, but our primary objective here is preventing ISIL from gaining a safe haven”.
Psaki added that the US-led coalition wants to stop the IS from staging “attacks in Iraq, and possibly plan attacks against U.S. interests” and that it was “a deliberate, well-thought-out campaign in Syria to disrupt ISIL, specifically their command and control structures, destroy ISIL’s critical infrastructure, attack sources of ISIL fuel and financing”.