As Kurdish fighters hang on in Kobani, Turkey bombs Kurdish targets

Syrian Kurdish fighters (YPG) continue to battle the better-armed ISIS militants slowly gaining ground in the border town of Kobani — ISIS is believed to have taken about half the town, though the YPG has gained some territory, too. But Turkey's military is continuing to watch the fighting from across the nearby border, declining to intervene.

This inaction has caused tension with Turkey's 15-million-strong Kurdish population — at least 35 people were killed when Kurds rose up in protest last week — and now Turkey is bombing Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) targets in southern Turkey, according to Turkish newspapers. PKK fighters reportedly attacked Turkish military bases to show their fury at Turkey's refusal to aid the Kobani fighters.

"F-16 and F-4 warplanes which took off from (bases in the southeastern provinces of) Diyarbakir and Malatya rained down bombs on PKK targets after they attacked a military outpost in the Daglica region," reports Turkey's Hurriyet. The bombing and PKK attacks ended a two-year truce enacted so the government of President Tayyip Erdogan could negotiate a peace deal to end the long PKK insurgency. ISIS also has some backing inside Turkey — The Associated Press notes that the jihadists are openly supported even in the country's most cosmopolitan city, Istanbul.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up