Official: Kurdistan Region has sent weapons to Kobane defenders

By Govand Mustafa

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Kurdistan Region has sent weapons to the besieged Syrian Kurdish forces in Kobane, a top Kurdish official announced Wednesday.

In a late night interview with Rudaw TV Mala Bakhtiar, who is a leading figure in the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), said that both his party and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) have shipped military equipment to the embattled Syrian Kurdish troops known as the People’s Protection Units or YPG in Kobane.

“Both we and the KDP have done everything in our power to arm the YPG forces. We even planned to deploy Peshmarga forces but couldn’t carry it out because we have to cross 70 to 80 kilometers of the so-called Islamic State (IS or ISIS) territory to reach Kobane, and at the moment it’s militarily impossible,” Bakhtiar said.

The Kurdish YPG forces have been defending Kobane for two years as the ISIS intensified its attacks on the city over the past three weeks. The YPG, which is the armed wing of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), is perceived to be the only force with military capabilities in Syrian Kurdistan, also known as Rojava.

On Tuesday, major demonstrations were held in Turkey and the Kurdistan Region in support of the Kurdish cause in Syria, urging the international community to do more to protect the Kurdish city of Kobane. The demonstrations, which turned deadly for at least 17 protestors in Turkey, severely criticized Ankara for failing to save the war-torn city.

Bakhtiar, who participated in one such demonstration in Sulaimani, said: “The Kurdistan Region’s support is important for the Kurdish struggle in Syria.”

“Both the economic aspect and political and even the media are important,” he said, referring to the demonstrations.

Bakhtiar praised Iran’s role in helping Kurdish forces to push back ISIS troops in Kurdistan in August and said Tehran had “a clearer view” of “the dangers imposed by the IS than the rest of the world.”

“They started in Makhmour and Gwer and the Kurdish president expressed his gratitude for Iran’s supportive actions,” he said.

In the proxy war between Shiite Iran and Sunni Turkey in Iraq, the PUK has been accused of facilitating Tehran’s policies in the country, while the KDP has been viewed as an ally of Ankara.

“Unfortunately, Turkey repeated the same scenario when Iraq was about to be attacked (in 2003). Turkey could have had a great impact on events now. But, sadly, its policies have so far been in the interest of the Islamic State,” Bakhtiar said.