After a visit to the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani, a leader of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) called on the Turkish government to support Syrian Kurds' fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) to defend the besieged town near the Turkish border, saying this is a chance to strengthen Turkey's peace process with the Kurds.

Selahattin Demirtaş, co-chairman of the HDP, was speaking to reporters on the Turkish side of the border after visiting Kobani.

ISIL militants are closing in on Kobani despite US-led coalition airstrikes against ISIL targets in the area. ISIL forces pounded the town with mortars and artillery shells and advanced within five kilometers of Kobani, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Monday.

The push by ISIL has created some 150,000 Syrian Kurdish refugees, in one of the largest influxes of Syrian refugees to Turkey since the war began three-and-a-half years ago.

Turkish military reinforced the border with tanks and armored vehicles on Monday amid intensified shelling by ISIL.

Turkey has let the Syrian Kurdish refugees in, but clashes erupted on the Turkish side of the border between troops and Kurds who wanted to cross into Syria to join the defense of Kobani.

Demirtaş criticized the Turkish position, saying Turkey should provide water, food and tents to the people who flocked to the border to prevent ISIL advances, instead of attacking them with tear gas and water cannons.

He said the Turkish government should also get in touch with the Democratic Union Party (PYD), a Syrian Kurdish group which Ankara sees as the Syrian arm of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), and coordinate its efforts with the group against ISIL.

He also praised the People's Protection Units (YPG), the armed wing of the PYD that has been fighting ISIL to “defend the honor of humanity.”

The crisis in Kobani has been posing a major threat to Turkey's efforts to end the PKK's decades-old violent campaign through talks with the group's imprisoned leader, Abdullah Öcalan, amid Kurdish suspicions that Turkey is supporting ISIL militants. A senior PKK commander has already said the peace process is effectively “over” due to the Turkish stance towards Koban, though he added that the final decision will be made by Öcalan.

Demirtaş said it was time to salvage the peace process through actual deeds, instead of just talks. “If there has been a process for the past two years, today is the day to take the next step to keep it alive,” Demirtaş said.

“Kurds of Rojava are not a threat to Turkey,” said Demirtaş, referring to the Syrian Kurdish region. “We are going through very critical hours, even minutes. … Today is the day to join hands. It is not the time to leave the Kurds alone.”

“Let's carry out a historic defense against ISIL together,” he said. “It is [still] possible to fix a historic mistake.”

Demirtaş to meet with Davutoğlu

Soon after Demirtaş' statement to the press, news reports said the HDP leader and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu are to meet on Wednesday. No information was immediately available as to the content of the talks.

Today's Zaman