Thursday\u2019s simultaneous offensives by ISIS near the border crossing between Kobane and Turkey, in the northern city of Hassakeh and in city of Deraa in southern Syria have shown, once again, that ISIS still has momentum. Five months after they were driven out by Kurdish forces and just as their capital Raqqa has seemed to be under threat, ISIS militants have managed to inflict serious losses in and around Kobane.<\/p>\n
Thursday morning\u2019s suicide car bomb attack and killing of civilians in Kobane neighbourhoods also put Turkey on the spot. Soon after the explosions, there were allegations of collaboration from the Turkish side.<\/p>\n
Syrian state TV claimed\u00a0 that ISIS fighters had entered Syria from Turkey.<\/p>\n
Figen Y\u00fcksekda\u011f, the co-leader of the Kurdish-affiliated Peoples\u2019 Democratic Party (HDP) talked about the \u201chigh probability\u201d of the attackers entering Kobane from Turkey. \u00a0Journalist and Syria analyst Mutlu Civiroglu (@mutludc) wrote on Twitter that his sources said five separate groups of ISIS entered Kobane from Turkey, blowing vehicles, entering houses and shooting civilians.<\/p>\n
The co-president of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), Salih Muslim was more specific. He was quoted<\/a> as saying that there was every sign to suggest the militants infiltrated from and returned to Turkey.<\/p>\n Redur Xelil, the YPG spokesman was more measured. \u201cSo far, we have no confirmed news, if this group entered Kobane though the Turkish borders or not. The primary information and the eye witnesses say that they entered from Turkey but officially we don’t have confirmed information yet,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Turkish authorities issued strongly worded denials<\/a>, calling the allegations black propaganda. A statement by the governor of Urfa, the province bordering Syria said the militants reached Kobani through the Syrian town of Jarabulus. However, several sources from the area say it is impossible to use the Jarabulus route as it is impassable.<\/p>\n Syria has become the world\u2019s most dangerous country for journalists and at times like these, it is extremely difficult to uncover the truth. There are too many propaganda machines, disseminating false information and not enough independent confirmation of claims.<\/p>\n I do not know if the allegations against Turkey are true or false. If Turkey was a country where key institutions, independent of partisan interests and influences existed, I would have given the authorities the benefit of the doubt. After all, Turkey is the world\u2019s largest refugee-hosting nation, opening its doors to close to two million people from Syria. Yet, it is easier to doubt than trust.<\/p>\n After the latest attack in Kobane, the Diyarbakir Bar Association called for an urgent investigation into allegations of complicity. If we had forgotten what had happened<\/a> to others for daring to probe suspected illegal shipments of arms for rebels fighting Syria\u2019s government before, we would have been more patient for the truth to emerge. However, based on previous experience, we can only expect further news black-outs, new conspiracy theories and even louder calls for intervention<\/a> in Syria – not to stop ISIS – but to prevent Kurds getting the upper hand, pushing ISIS away from Turkey\u2019s borders.<\/p>\n The rest of the world may puzzle over how a NATO member Turkey has ended up as a pipeline of arms and volunteers into Islamist opposition in Syria. They may ponder why ISIS is still expanding, entrenching.\u00a0 They may question what else needs to be done to stop it.<\/p>\n