Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant

Although Turkey’s view of the battle over the Syrian border town of Kobane is extremely clear, it is not possible to say the same for U.S. officials in Washington, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has maintained, as he portrayed the U.S. capital city in cacophony of contradicting statements on Kobane.

While around 55 percent of Turkish citizens do not approve of the Syrian policy the government pursues, 58 percent said the dialogue between the government and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) to solve the decades-long conflict should be continued, results from a recent survey conducted by research organization Metropoll have shown.

A different voice is coming from every U.S. administrative unit. Spokespersons from the White House, Pentagon, Department of State and National Security Council are all speaking differently.

When Ramazan Kızıl established Dalkurd FF, one of Europe’s most successful immigrant football teams, in a remote town in northern Sweden, he dreamt of one day raising the Swedish and Kurdish flags alongside one another in a European championship.

All the relevant states should be involved in the fight against ISIL and Turkey should not be left alone, Israeli top diplomat says, underlining the delicateness of the time for Israel-Turkey relations Israel’s highest ranking diplomat in Turkey, newly appointed Consul-General Shai Cohen has said the fight against ISIL should not be left to the Turkish government and Turkish security forces

A car bomb blast targeting Shiites in Baghdad ahead of the major Ashura religious commemorations killed at least 13 people on Nov. 2, security and medical officials said.
      
The blast struck near a tent from which they were distributing tea and water in the Al-Ilam area in southwest Baghdad, also wounding at least 29 people, the sources said.
      

UNESCO chief Irina Bokova on Nov. 2 slammed the "barbaric" destruction of Iraq's cultural heritage, as jihadists from the Islamic State group destroy age-old sites in areas they control.
      
Iraq has "thousands of temples, of buildings, of archaeological sites, of objects, that represent a treasure for (all) humanity," Bokova said during a visit to Baghdad.
     

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has in recent days executed more than 200 members of an Iraqi tribe that fought against it, officials and a tribal leader said on Nov. 2.
      

Thousands of people march in Turkey’s southeastern province of Diyarbakır and Istanbul in a peaceful support rally for Syrian city under ISIL fire Thousands of people marched Nov. 1 in Turkey’s southeastern province of Diyarbakır and Istanbul in a peaceful support rally for Kobane, the Syrian city under jihadists’ attack for more than one month. 

During a joint press conference in Paris with French President François Hollande on Oct. 31, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan used the acronym DA’ISH, instead of ISIL to refer to the fundamentalist organization of the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant.