ERBIL, Kurdistan Region— President of the Kurdistan Region Massoud Barzani called on Kurdish parties and the international community today to assist the people of Kobane against the Islamic State (IS) attacks on the town.
“We appeal to all Kurdish forces to put aside their differences and unite to defend the dignity, the land and the lives of the citizens of Kobane,” Barzani said in a statement. “The defense of the land and the people of Kurdistan is the duty of all of us and would override all other duties,”
Barzani warned that inaction would lead to terrible consequences and he called on the international community to prevent another humanitarian crisis.
“We also appeal to the international community to take urgent and necessary measures to protect people and Kobane in Western Kurdistan from terrorists wherever they are, because they will not hesitate to commit crimes and atrocities,” said Barzani in a statement published by the president’s office in Erbil.
Kobane, one of three autonomous cantons of Rojava (Syrian Kurdistan) is under attack and heavy shelling from IS militants.
Hundreds of civilians are reported to have fled to safer areas while the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) are fighting back the Islamist attack on many fronts.
Barzani’s statement on Friday described the IS attack as a broader attack on Kurds in the region, saying, “The brutality of these attacks on Kobane and western Kurdistan is a threat against the people of Kurdistan as a whole, targeting the dignity and the honor and the existence of our people.”
On Thursday, the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) appealed to Kurds from all parts of Kurdistan, particularly the Kurdish areas of Turkey to join the fight in Kobane and repel the IS attacks.
Meantime, Mustafa Farhat, a spokesman for the Free Syrian Army (FSA) told Rudaw that a large force is on the way to Kobane to help the Kurdish forces there.
“A Large number of FSA set off to Kobane from Aleppo to support the people of Kobane in their confrontation against the IS militants,” said Farhat.
“The balance of power will change by tomorrow,” he said.
The YPG has successfully held its lines against extremist groups for the past two years, but the latest IS attack on Kobane appears to be the most severe.
Also on Friday, Syria’s Minister of National Reconciliation Ali al-Haideri said that government forces should defend Kobane against the IS attacks.
“Kobane is Syrian land and it is our duty as the government of Syria to defend our land,” al-Haideri told Rudaw. “Therefore the Syrian army should go to Kobane.”
