Turkey will allow Iraqi Kurds to go fight ISIS in Syria

Turkey will allow Iraqi Kurds to go fight ISIS in Syria
(Image credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Turkey on Monday said it would allow Iraqi Kurds to pass through its territory into Syria so they may fight ISIS there, a significant development aimed at rebuffing the militant group's weeks-long offensive on a Syrian border town.

The announcement, made by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, will permit Iraqi Kurds to bolster Syrian Kurds who are defending the city of Kobani. Turkey has so far resisted taking a more prominent role in the U.S.-led campaign against ISIS, and it previously opposed sending weapons and reinforcements to the Kurds defending Kobani.

The decision came hours after the U.S. airdropped weapons and supplies on Kurdish forces near Kobani.

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