COPENHAGEN, Denmark – An increasing number of European politicians support Western intervention to stop Islamic State militants in Syrian Kurdistan, as tens of thousands flee an IS assault on Kobane.
The militants launched renewed assaults on Kobane starting Monday, triggering an exodus that has seen tens of thousands flee across the Turkish border.
“I am very concerned over the civilians in Rojava and Syria. There is a need for action and I think the West should go ahead,” said Nikolaj Villumsen, a Danish MP and member of the European Council (EC).
The United States has been involved in airstrikes against IS in Iraq since last month. President Barack Obama said last week the US would not hesitate to strike the radical group in Syria, but attacks there have yet to commence.
The new IS attacks on Kobane follow a siege that left the city without water or electricity and a virtual blockade. More than 20 villages in the Kobane canton have been seized by the militants.
Villumsen feared that US intervention may well end up strengthening president Bashar al-Assad’s regime, which the opposition has been fighting to topple for more than three years.
“It will not reduce the crackdown on the civilian population. Basically, it should be the United Nations and not the US that should control the fight against IS,” Villumsen added.
Struan Stevenson, a British MP in the European Parliament, called for arming Syria’s Kurds in their fight against the militants.
"We should arm the Kurds in Syria against IS," he suggested.
The People’s Protection Units (YPG), which remains isolated because of its links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), is the strongest military force in Rojava. The PKK is regarded as a terrorist organization by the European Union and the United States, and is vehemently opposed by Turkey.
But Stevenson noted that since 2013 there has been a peace process in Turkey between the PKK and the government.
“We have a common enemy in IS. Therefore we have to use all possible means,” he said.
Ana Gomes, a Portuguese MP in the European Parliament, backed strategic US strikes on IS targets to “prevent a murder campaign against the Kurds."
But Gomes stressed that individual states should not send weapons unilaterally.
"The EU should generally coordinate aid to the Kurds. The situation is very serious and we cannot neglect it," she said.
Meanwhile, Fredrik Malm of the Swedish Liberal Party, described the situation in Kobane as a "disaster."
"It is important that the Kurds can defend themselves. We must protect them from IS in Syria in the same way that we protect them in Iraq. This is the same conflict," Malm said.
Kurdo Baksi, a Green Party politician in Sweden who was elected as an alternate to the European Parliament in May, also called for the EU to arm the Kurds in Syria.
"I will work to put pressure on the Swedish government to the do more to help the Kurds in Rojava. We should help all we can: relief, military, etc."
Amineh Kakabaveh, member of the Swedish parliament since 2008, said that Rojava’s Kurds have fought IS for three years, “without getting enough support from the outside world in a long time, although they have ruled the area for a long time.”
“We need action, not just talk," Kakabaveh said. "They (IS) have already committed massacres in Iraqi Kurdistan and traumatized generations. I hope this does not happen in Rojava, but I fear it will."
According to Lars Erslev Andersen, a researcher in Denmark and author of books on the Middle East, the situation in Syria is complicated because of Western opposition to the Assad regime.
“In Iraq they can bomb without having problems with the UN Security Council and operate more freely," Andersen said.
"But in Syria, they (US) don’t have any invitation from Assad to bomb. Even if he asks them to bomb IS, the Americans don’t want to work with Assad."
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