US congratulates Kurds over Kobane as Turkey slams celebrations

Rudaw ^ | January 28, 2015 | Yerevan Saeed

[SunkenCiv]

The United States pledged to continue military and humanitarian assistance to the Kurdish city of Kobane in Syria, after Kurdish forces defeated the Islamic State (known as ISIS or ISIL) following a four-month siege.

"We congratulate its (Kobane's) brave defenders," US State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki said in a briefing to reporters, referring to the Kurdish forces that have been fighting there.

"We'll continue to support them as we look to the coming weeks ahead... As there are humanitarian needs, whether it's in Kobane and other places, I expect that we will contribute -- continue to be major contributors," she added.

Washington assisted Kurdish Peshmerga forces from the Kurdistan Region and the People's Protection Units (YPG) in Syria with weapons and ammunitions. It also has continued an air campaign that helped the Kurds eject ISIS out of the town after four months of fighting.

The renewed US commitment came as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan slammed the bombardment of the town by the international coalition and criticized Kurds for celebrating their victory over ISIS.

"Now, they (Kurds) are dancing. What happened? ISIS was ousted from there. Okay. But who will repair the places that were bombarded? Who will repair those demolished places? No one thinks of the future. Will the 200,000 who left be able to return?" Erdogan was quoted as saying by the Today's Zaman daily...

Meanwhile, the Pentagon said the airstrikes had been effective against ISIS in Kobane, stressing that a "reliable partner" on the ground is key to defeating ISIS...

Millions of Kurds across the Middle East have been celebrating the liberation of Kobane by dancing and singing in major Kurdish cities and towns.

[SunkenCiv]

Trench Warfare in Turkey -- This isn't the formerly besieged Syrian hamlet of Kobani or another Middle Eastern war zone -- it's Cizre, an overwhelmingly Kurdish town situated on Turkey's southeastern border with Syria and Iraq. These battles between the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and Turkish security forces now threaten to undermine peace talks between Ankara and the PKK's jailed spiritual leader, Abdullah Ocalan, aimed at ending Turkey's 30-year Kurdish insurgency. The bloodshed in Cizre is a testament to the difficulties both sides have faced in burying the conflict after decades of violence. The crisis began in October, when massive protests erupted in the southeast over Ankara's refusal to aid Kurdish defenders in Kobani, which recently withstood a four-month siege by Islamic State jihadists.

[SunkenCiv]

Police officer arrested as part of probe into boy’s death in Cizre
http://news.google.com/news/more?ncl=dgquWqGFdB_lyJMKSK_F0xst8ptEM&authuser=0&ned=us

[House Atreides]

TURKEY IS THE ENEMY OF AMERICA AND OF AMERICANS, HAVE NO DOUBT OF THAT FACT.

[Steely Tom]

Kurd Kobane?

[UCANSEE2]

The townfolk are in absolute nirvana.

[TigersEye]

Alternate headline:

Kurds Kobane Went Cold Turkey!

[isom35]

I thought I smelled Teen Spirit.

[lump in the melting pot]

We should have given the Kurds their own state in 2003, in return for Turkey denying us overflight privileges during the Iraq invasion.