Ayn al-Arab

Signals coming from both the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Parti) and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) indicate that neither is happy with the current state of the dialogue process, initiated by the Turkish government two years ago in pursuit of a political solution to the chronic problem.

The stance of the Barack Obama administration regarding Syria, Iraq and the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) is likely to change following the Nov. 4 midterm elections in the U.S.

The promotion of the Kurdish fighters for their battle against jihadists in the Syrian border town of Kobane is actually meant to lay the ground for the establishment of an independent Kurdistan, Turkey’s nationalist opposition leader has claimed, accusing the government of "treason."

The government opened its borders for the transfer of the first units of Iraqi Kurdish fighters to pass through Turkish territory to the Syrian town of Kobane (or, officially, Ayn al-Arab) near the Turkish border yesterday, Oct. 30.

About 10 Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga fighters entered the Syrian town of Kobane through the border crossing with Turkey on Oct. 30, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
   
The monitoring group said the remaining peshmerga fighters were expected to enter the town - known as Ayn al-Arab in Arabic - "within hours".

Kobane, a dusty town on Syria’s border with Turkey, has been a battleground between the defending Syrian Kurdish forces and the besieging militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) for weeks. As the fighting continues to rage, the etymology of the town’s name is now also being contested.

“We cannot understand the logic of dropping arms to a city as street clashes are going on, but the Americans believe in their ways. We’ll see.” Those were the words of a Turkish military expert when I asked his opinion on airdrops on Oct. 20, the day U.S.