Peshmerga on way instead of PYD’s militia

Rojava’s Democratic Union Party (PYD) originally asked for People’s Protection Units (YPG) to be sent to the embattled canton of Kobane, only to be sent Peshmerga from northern Iraq instead, PYD co-chair Salih Muslim has said.

“The issue of sending Peshmerga forces came up last week when I was in Dohuk. Earlier, we asked for support from whoever it could be. We asked Turkey to open a corridor to allow YPG forces in other regions [of northern Syria] to be able to come to Kobane. Now, we received some other sort of support,” Muslim told the Hürriyet Daily News on Oct. 22.

Elaborating on the proposal of sending Peshmerga to Kobane, Muslim said they were already in talks with the United States about methods of support. During the meetings in Dohuk, he received a message that Turkey had accepted the crossings of Peshmerga through Turkish territory.

Twenty Syrian Kurdish factions, including the group fighting in Kobane, met in northern Iraq’s Dohuk province between Oct. 14 and 21 in an attempt to unify militarily and politically.

Asked why the crossing of Peshmerga forces was delayed, Muslim said it had "nothing to do" with his administration. "Turkey and [Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government President Masoud] Barzani discussions, and Turkey agreed. Turkish officials did not contact us,” he said.

Asked about who suggested sending the Peshmerga to Kobane, Muslim said he could not go into more details. "There is a will and it’s accepted. At the end, now there are discussions between the YPG and Peshmerga [on the details],” he said.

Asked if the proposal was presented to the PYD as a fait accompli, Muslim declined to further elaborate and merely said, “This was the outcome.”

“Since the first...