ISTANBUL, Turkey - In a sign of rising tensions, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has again lashed out at the West, accusing it of “double standards” in trying to save Kobane from a siege by Islamic State. He questioned the Syrian town’s strategic importance, while jihadist advances in other parts of Syria and Iraq went unchecked. Thrust into the world’s media spotlight, Kobane, a predominantly Kurdish town which sits hard on Turkey’s frontier and until a few weeks ago was little known, has emerged as an experiment as to whether a U.S.-led air offensive can push back Islamic State, also known as ISIS, which has captured a large swath of Syria and neighbouring Iraq. Turkey, whose tanks have for weeks sat idle only metres across the border, has refused to join the anti-ISIS coalition unless certain conditions are met. The deadlock has exposed strained relations between the United States and Turkey, and Erdogan’s latest comments appeared to be one of the strongest criticisms of Washington and its allies to date. Speaking during an official visit to France on Friday, Erdogan questioned why coalition powers were silent when other parts of Syria had come under attack by Syrian regime forces. “Why have all those who remained silent while all these places were being hit, been in such a rush to make Kobane on Turkey’s border a strategic location for the rest of the world? What is its strategic importance to them? What strategic importance does it have for those 10,000 km across the world? This is my border,” state-run Anadolu agency quoted Erdogan as saying. “I wonder what there is there? Is there petrol? Gold? Diamonds? Why Kobane, I wonder?” Erdogan said he found it “hard to believe” that ISIS had managed to capture 40 percent of Iraq using US weapons seized from Iraqi soldiers and that it was now doing the same in Syria. “When we look at all these events, for decades while people were dying in Iraqi cities, the international community was silent, and now they are silent. The double standards the West is exhibiting toward the Middle East is deeply affecting the conscience of the Middle East,” Erdogan said. “This effect is paving the way for havoc that will not be eradicated for years.” Erdogan’s comments highlight Turkey’s longstanding gripe with the West, namely its refusal to go after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who Ankara sees as the chief mastermind of Syria’s unrest. While Washington has previously called on Assad to relinquish power, the emergence of a bigger foe in ISIS means it no longer sees his removal as a top priority. Turkey also wants a no-fly zone and a safe zone to be imposed in northern Syria before it joins the coalition, proposals Washington and other allies have shown little interest in. Ankara has rebuffed accusations it is indifferent to Kobane’s fate, pointing to the 200,000 inhabitants it has taken in from the area on top of 1.4 million other Syrian refugees. Turkey is also treating wounded Kurdish fighters and agreed to give passage to some 150 Kurdish Peshmerga which entered Kobane late on Friday night to help bolster defences.
