MESOP : Barzani Asks Turkey to Let Peshmerga Through to Kobani

9-10-2014 – Dana Mikael – BasNews, Erbil – Iraqi Kurdistan President Massuad Barzani has officially requested access to Kobani via Turkey from the Turkish government. He wants Peshmerga forces to help defend the beseiged Syrian Kurdish city from Islamic State (IS) advances, an anonymous source close to the president has told BasNews.BasNews has learned that Barzani asked Turkish officials to let Peshmerga through so they can join the undermanned Kurdish forces in Syria, known as the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which have been fighting the IS insurgents in Kobani over the last month.

Since the start of the IS attacks on Kobani thousands of Kurdish Syrians have fled the city and headed to Turkey. On Tuesday, according to BasNews sources, a number of Kurdish Syrian parties met with Barzani in Erbil. During the meeting, Barzani told them of his official request to the government in Ankara, expressing his desire that the Peshmerga travel to Kobani to protect the city and its people from the Jihadi group. The meeting also included representatives of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the Syrian Kurdistan’s Democratic Society Movement (TEV-DEM). So far there is no word from Turkey as to whether they have agree to or even received Barzani’s request