MEPs urge Turkey to cooperate in battle against ISIL

Members of the European Parliament have urged Turkey to fully cooperate in the battle against ISIL Takfiri terrorists operating in Syria and Iraq, Press TV reports.

Turkey’s stance towards ISIL has been discussed during a recent meeting at the European Parliament in the French city of Strasbourg.

Victor Bostinaru, an MEP from Romania, said that Turkey, as a country that is seeking to join the EU, should show its “readiness to cooperate and to coordinate with EU and NATO” in fighting ISIL.

Arnaud Danjean, an MEP from France, pointed out that Ankara as a NATO member had an obligation to take action against ISIL, saying, “When we observe Turkey’s attitude on Kobani or ISIS (ISIL), it raises many questions.”

Turkey is blocking military and humanitarian supplies from being moved across its border to Syria where ISIL is continuing its efforts to take the northern Syrian city of Kobani.

ISIL has captured dozens of Syrian villages close to the Turkish border over the past few weeks but Turkey has been reluctant to take any practical action to help halt the advance of the terrorist group.

Turkey had earlier announced it would allow Kurdish forces from Iraq to cross into Syria for combat in Kobani, but it has yet to permit the Iraqi Peshmerga fighters to enter Syria to assist in defending Kobani against ISIL terrorists.

Kobani and its surrounding area have been under attack since mid-September. The ISIL advance in the region has forced tens of thousands of Syrian Kurds to flee the Syrian Kurdish city mainly into Turkey.

There are reports that at least 815 people have been killed during the clashes between Kurdish fighters and the ISIL Takfiri terrorists in Kobani, with more than half of those killed being ISIL militants.