ANKARA, Turkey – Ankara is considering heavy weapons for the Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga forces in their fight against the Islamic State (ISIS), a top leader of Turkey’s ruling party said.
"Turkey is now discussing the possibility of sending heavy weapons to the Kurdistan Region in order to ward off the threat from ISIS," said Yasin Aktay, deputy head of the Justice and Development Party (AKP).
He said Ankara would not stand idly if Kurdistan Region is threatened by ISIS.
“ISIS is a threat to Turkey, too.” he added.
Aktay also voiced Turkey’s concerns, saying it feared weapons would fall into the wrong hands. He did not elaborate.
"Turkey agreed to send military advisers and trainers to the Kurdistan Region, in order to provide technical and logistic support Kurdish Peshmerga forces, in the face of ISIS," Aktay said.
Erbil-Ankara relations have cooled since August, when Kurdistan came under attack by ISIS and Turkey ignored urgent appeals for help.
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