Kurdish unity rekindles hope for Kobane
At the weekend, lawmakers, activists and volunteers from across Turkey flocked to the border village for a rally in support of Kobane’s defenders.
They joined a crowd of Kurdish civilians from both sides of the border, many of whom have fled the IS onslaught on the Kurdish heartland of northern Syria.
Tens of thousands of Kurdish refugees crossed into Turkey during the summer as heavily armed IS militants took over vast swathes of Syria and Iraq in a lightening offensive.
Outgunned and outnumbered, Kobane’s Kurdish defenders have so far succeeded in halting the IS advance, helped by US-led airstrikes.
Last week, they received unprecedented support from a unit of peshmerga fighters from Iraqi Kurdistan, who brought much-needed heavy weapons.
For many in Mahser, some good has come out of the bitter fight for the flashpoint city.
Amid the carnage, Kurds have achieved what had long seemed impossible: uniting factions from Syria, Turkey and Iraq.
The valiant defence has also won the respect of many non-Kurds across Turkey, where Kurdish separatism has long been regarded with deep suspicion.
Ehran, a member of leftist group Kaldirac, took a 22-hour bus ride to join the rally in Mahser.
He says Kobane has inspired opponents to the Turkish government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which has been widely criticized for refusing to help the city’s Kurdish defenders.
“In Kobane, people don't only resist for the Kurdish people, they resist for the people around the world, from the Middle East, against ISIL, against the Turkish government,” he says, referring to the IS group by its former name, the Islamic State in Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIL).
As darkness descends, Kurdish locals huddle around a phone to make contact with their brothers in the besieged city.
The brief conversation ends with cheers of “long live the resistance!”
With Syrian, Turkish and Iraqi Kurds united in Kobane, many across the border believe a memorable victory is now in sight.
France24
