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| Turkey moves closer to intervention in Syria, Iraq | Turkey moves closer to intervention in Syria, Iraq |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| BAGHDAD—Turkey’s government edged closer Tuesday to direct intervention in the conflicts in Syria and Iraq, bolstering security along its frontier with Syria and asking parliament to authorize a deployment of Turkish troops to the two war-ravaged countries. | BAGHDAD—Turkey’s government edged closer Tuesday to direct intervention in the conflicts in Syria and Iraq, bolstering security along its frontier with Syria and asking parliament to authorize a deployment of Turkish troops to the two war-ravaged countries. |
| Turkey on Tuesday dispatched hundreds of soldiers and tanks to the Syrian border to contain potential violent spillover from an Islamic State siege on the Syrian border town of Kobane. | Turkey on Tuesday dispatched hundreds of soldiers and tanks to the Syrian border to contain potential violent spillover from an Islamic State siege on the Syrian border town of Kobane. |
| Its cabinet also sent a motion to parliament that would potentially allow Turkish troops to enter Iraqi and Syrian territory to combat extremists. Parliament is scheduled to vote on the authorization in a closed session on Oct. 2. Proposed by Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party, the motion is considered likely to pass. | |
| In a news briefing after the cabinet meeting, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said the proposal would include a wide range of options, including opening Turkish bases to foreign troops and deploying Turkish soldiers to establish safe zones for refugees inside Syria. The government wants the motion to be broad enough to avoid needing another parliamentary mandate for military action, he said. | |
| Possible cross-border operations by Turkey’s powerful and well-equipped military would mark a significant change in the international confrontation with the Islamic State, a radical Islamist militant group also known as ISIS or ISIL. | Possible cross-border operations by Turkey’s powerful and well-equipped military would mark a significant change in the international confrontation with the Islamic State, a radical Islamist militant group also known as ISIS or ISIL. |
| Turkey, a NATO member, has been accused of aiding Islamist militants by allowing them to traverse Turkish territory to fight in Syria. And Turkey has not yet joined a U.S.-led coalition conducting airstrikes against the group in Syria and Iraq. | |
| But if Turkey authorized foreign forces to use its bases or airspace — as the U.S.-led coalition has pressured the Turkish government to do — that would provide a convenient launchpad or transit corridor for strikes by the United States and its Arab allies. | |
| Recent U.S. airstrikes have sought to repel the Islamic State offensive against Kobane, which is defended by Syrian Kurdish forces and some Kurdish fighters from Turkey. | |
| Kobane’s fall to the Islamic State would give the group control of a large stretch of the Turkish-Syrian border and possibly open new routes for supplies and recruits. The siege has caused more than 160,000 refugees to flee into Turkey in the past week, and shells from the fighting have also landed in Turkish territory. | |
| U.S. warplanes hit an Islamic State position on the Turkish-Syrian border, according to a statement released Tuesday by the U.S. military’s Central Command. An additional 10 strikes were carried out in both Iraq and Syria on Monday and Tuesday, the statement said. | U.S. warplanes hit an Islamic State position on the Turkish-Syrian border, according to a statement released Tuesday by the U.S. military’s Central Command. An additional 10 strikes were carried out in both Iraq and Syria on Monday and Tuesday, the statement said. |
| “Each time ISIS makes progress, the coalition strikes behind them,” said Ojlan Esso, a spokesman for the Kurdish fighting force in Kobane. “This happened in several villages.” | |
| Kurdish troops in Iraq, meanwhile, also launched an offensive to retake towns held by the Islamic State in the north, security officials said. The officials said thousands of Kurdish fighters, known as pesh merga, were participating in the battle, which is focused on the Iraqi border town of Rabea. | Kurdish troops in Iraq, meanwhile, also launched an offensive to retake towns held by the Islamic State in the north, security officials said. The officials said thousands of Kurdish fighters, known as pesh merga, were participating in the battle, which is focused on the Iraqi border town of Rabea. |
| In August, the Islamic State began a stunning campaign across northern Iraq from the city of Mosul, which it has controlled since June. Its fighters routed Kurdish forces from a number of areas, reaching within striking distance of the Kurdish regional capital, Irbil, before U.S. warplanes intervened to push the militants back. | In August, the Islamic State began a stunning campaign across northern Iraq from the city of Mosul, which it has controlled since June. Its fighters routed Kurdish forces from a number of areas, reaching within striking distance of the Kurdish regional capital, Irbil, before U.S. warplanes intervened to push the militants back. |
| Since then, pesh merga fighters have held onto those gains, backed by the threat of U.S. airstrikes. But Rabea and other towns in the area west of Mosul have remained under Islamic State control since August. | Since then, pesh merga fighters have held onto those gains, backed by the threat of U.S. airstrikes. But Rabea and other towns in the area west of Mosul have remained under Islamic State control since August. |
| A Kurdish parliament member, Majid al-Sinjari, said Islamic State militants planted hundreds of improvised explosive devices that were slowing the offensive’s progress. He said the pesh merga has suffered casualties. | A Kurdish parliament member, Majid al-Sinjari, said Islamic State militants planted hundreds of improvised explosive devices that were slowing the offensive’s progress. He said the pesh merga has suffered casualties. |
| But he also said pesh merga forces hoped to advance on the jihadist-controlled town of Sinjar in the next two days. Sinjar was previously home to tens of thousands of Yazidis, an ethnic-religious minority that the Islamic State has deemed devil worshipers. | But he also said pesh merga forces hoped to advance on the jihadist-controlled town of Sinjar in the next two days. Sinjar was previously home to tens of thousands of Yazidis, an ethnic-religious minority that the Islamic State has deemed devil worshipers. |
| In August, the militants surrounded thousands of fleeing Yazidis who had taken shelter on nearby Mount Sinjar. The humanitarian crisis, in which Yazidis were dying of hunger and thirst, prompted the U.S. military to intervene. | In August, the militants surrounded thousands of fleeing Yazidis who had taken shelter on nearby Mount Sinjar. The humanitarian crisis, in which Yazidis were dying of hunger and thirst, prompted the U.S. military to intervene. |
| Mahmoud Hajji, a security adviser to the Kurdish Interior Ministry, described Rabea and Sinjar as key logistics hubs for the Islamic State. | Mahmoud Hajji, a security adviser to the Kurdish Interior Ministry, described Rabea and Sinjar as key logistics hubs for the Islamic State. |
| “We expect massive clashes [with the Islamic State] in Sinjar,” Hajji said. | “We expect massive clashes [with the Islamic State] in Sinjar,” Hajji said. |
| In Baghdad, at least 25 people were killed Tuesday in car bomb and mortar attacks in two Shiite neighborhoods of the capital. | |
| Collard reported from Beirut. Mustafa Salim in Baghdad and Suzan Haidamous in Beirut contributed to this report. | Collard reported from Beirut. Mustafa Salim in Baghdad and Suzan Haidamous in Beirut contributed to this report. |