Sorry, I forgot my audience... Australia can only strip someone of Australian citizenship if they currently have dual citizenship - you cannot expel them if Australian citizenship is the only one they still hold. I await an article from you where it shows they currently have dual Australian/Afghani citizenship, I have looked and have not been able to find any indication that he holds dual citizenship. If that is the case then they cannot be expelled and I stand by my point.
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Sorry, I forgot my audience... Australia can only strip someone of Australian citizenship if they currently have dual citizenship - you cannot expel them if Australian citizenship is the only one they still hold. I await an article from you where it shows they currently have dual Australian/Afghani citizenship, I have looked and have not been able to find any indication that he holds dual citizenship. If that is the case then they cannot be expelled and I stand by my point.
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
TURKEY OPENS BORDER TO SYRIAN KURDS: PM
Turkey on Friday opened up its border to thousands of Syrian Kurds fleeing clashes with Islamic State (IS) insurgents in neighbouring Syria, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said.
"We will take in our brothers fleeing to Anatolia from Syria or any other place without any ethnic or sectarian discrimination," Davutoglu told reporters in Azerbaijan.
"The entries have started now," he said. "We have taken in 4,000 brothers. The number might increase. Their needs will be met. This is a humanitarian mission."
The move came after Ankara, which is sheltering some 1.5 million refugees from the Syrian conflict, refused to take in more fearing it would not be able to cope.
"As long as Turkey remains strong, and has a capacity, it will help everyone seeking refuge," the prime minister said.
Live television footage showed Syrian Kurds, mostly women and children, crossing to the Turkish side of the border in the southeastern village of Dikmetas, under tight security.
Exhausted refugees carrying bags over their heads were handed food and water, as children cried on their laps, according to the live broadcast by CNN-Turk television. Some women fainted, the footage showed.
An elderly woman in wheelchair standing was seen waiting behind Turkey's security force to cross the border, while a Turkish soldier held the hand of a child. The security forces appeared to be expanding the corridor to allow easier passage for the Syrians.
Syrian Kurds have been massing since Thursday on the other side of the border amid escalating clashes between the Islamic State group and Kurdish fighters.
Sounds of gunfire were still being heard in Dikmetas, in a sign of ongoing clashes, reports said.
Ankara, a vocal critic of President Bashar al-Assad's regime, has maintained an open-door policy to Syrian refugees. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said this week however the army was mulling the prospect of setting up a buffer zone along the volatile border.
Source : Sapa-AFP /gm
Date : 19 Sep 2014 13:31
Turkey on Friday opened up its border to thousands of Syrian Kurds fleeing clashes with Islamic State (IS) insurgents in neighbouring Syria, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said.
"We will take in our brothers fleeing to Anatolia from Syria or any other place without any ethnic or sectarian discrimination," Davutoglu told reporters in Azerbaijan.
"The entries have started now," he said. "We have taken in 4,000 brothers. The number might increase. Their needs will be met. This is a humanitarian mission."
The move came after Ankara, which is sheltering some 1.5 million refugees from the Syrian conflict, refused to take in more fearing it would not be able to cope.
"As long as Turkey remains strong, and has a capacity, it will help everyone seeking refuge," the prime minister said.
Live television footage showed Syrian Kurds, mostly women and children, crossing to the Turkish side of the border in the southeastern village of Dikmetas, under tight security.
Exhausted refugees carrying bags over their heads were handed food and water, as children cried on their laps, according to the live broadcast by CNN-Turk television. Some women fainted, the footage showed.
An elderly woman in wheelchair standing was seen waiting behind Turkey's security force to cross the border, while a Turkish soldier held the hand of a child. The security forces appeared to be expanding the corridor to allow easier passage for the Syrians.
Syrian Kurds have been massing since Thursday on the other side of the border amid escalating clashes between the Islamic State group and Kurdish fighters.
Sounds of gunfire were still being heard in Dikmetas, in a sign of ongoing clashes, reports said.
Ankara, a vocal critic of President Bashar al-Assad's regime, has maintained an open-door policy to Syrian refugees. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said this week however the army was mulling the prospect of setting up a buffer zone along the volatile border.
Source : Sapa-AFP /gm
Date : 19 Sep 2014 13:31
marine1
Honorary Master
Not arguing with you so basically they cannot expel someone born in oz and cannot strip them of citizenship?
Is that what you are saying?
Fine then send them to gitmo
falcon786
Honorary Master
Thats great,people out there are really suffering and could really do with desperately needed help,if its not Assad its IS.:erm:
Yup, 100%, not sure you can send them to Gitmo either but that's another story...
You can send them to Gitmo if you don't give a crap about human rights....
Arthur
Honorary Master
falcon786
Honorary Master
Why don't you try speaking in your own words rather than link to hate sites?
Arthur
Honorary Master
Hate sites? You must be joking. I thought that provided some useful insights, not just into Islam as a political/social force, but to all religions sociologically considered of course.
Oh, and I do speak in my own words. Many times. This forum is full of it.
falcon786
Honorary Master
Yeah I know you speak quite well normally and it would be nicer to hear your version of things rather than a site dedicated to knocking down only one thing... To be honest I don't have much respect for that kind of site no matter how well they wrote an article the end motive is clear and logic gets thrown out the window long before the articles are even written.
MYBB is much more neutral, after all that's why we chose to be here rather than bigoted sites.
Last edited:
Kurds say whaaat?
Grant
Honorary Master
You can send them to Gitmo if you don't give a crap about human rights....
dont you think the punishment should fit the crime ?
what human rights should be awarded to people who plot and plan to kill & bomb innocent civilians - what happened to the human rights (and the simple right to live) of those people.
personally, i wouldnt bother wasting money on sending them to a place like gitmo with all it's associated expenses.
gutter scum should be treated as such - **** their human rights, they renounced those the minute they started their plotting and planning to kill others.
from an australian perspective, it would be of better service to humanity in just dumping them in shark infested waters along the coast.
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
SYRIA KURDS FLEE FROM IS JIHADISTS INTO TURKEY
Tens of thousands of Syrian Kurds flooded into Turkey on Saturday, fleeing an onslaught by the jihadist Islamic State group that prompted an appeal for international intervention.
The massive influx came as 46 Turks kidnapped by IS jihadists in Iraq in June were freed and returned home for emotional reunions with their families.
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said more than 60,000 Syrian Kurds had crossed into the country since the frontier was opened on Friday.
The exodus was prompted by intense clashes between IS and Kurdish fighters trying to hold off an assault on the town of Ain al-Arab, known as Kobane by the Kurds.
It is the third-largest Kurdish town in Syria and a strategic prize because it lies on the border with Turkey in northern Aleppo province.
Since Tuesday night, IS fighters have been advancing on the town, hoping to seize it and secure their control over a large swathe of Syria's northern border with Turkey.
The group has moved quickly, seizing at least 63 surrounding villages, although the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said 18 IS fighters were killed in clashes overnight.
It said 13 jihadists were killed on Saturday, and that 25 Kurdish fighters have been killed since Tuesday.
On Saturday, the Observatory said 300 Kurdish fighters had entered Syria from Turkey to reinforce the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) fighting IS.
People of all ages were among those seeking shelter in Turkey, including a child clutching a sibling's hand as they marched across the dusty border and an elderly wheelchair-bound woman helped by relatives.
"The IS came to our village and threatened everyone. They bombed our village and destroyed all the houses. They beheaded those who chose to stay," said Mohammed Isa, 43, who left with his family of seven.
Turkish forces cut the barbed wire along the frontier to make it easier for people to enter while soldiers and aid workers handed out food and water.
IS's advances have prompted calls from Syria's opposition and Kurdish officials for international intervention, with one leader warning of "ethnic cleansing".
The United States has organised a coalition of countries to tackle IS jihadists who have declared an Islamic "caliphate" in parts of Syria and Iraq and carried out abuses including beheadings and crucifixions.
American warplanes have launched a total of 183 air strikes across Iraq, targeting IS vehicles, checkpoints and outposts.
US President Barack Obama plans to make his case against IS before the world at the UN General Assembly next week in a bid for more international support.
The Syrian opposition National Coalition urged international air strikes to "stop mass atrocities" if IS advances into Ain al-Arab.
"Air strikes are needed to help opposition forces protect vulnerable civilians," the coalition's US representative Najib Ghadbian said.
And Salih Muslim Mohamed, a leader of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), urged the United States and Europe to help Ain al-Arab avoid the fate of the Iraqi town of Sinjar, which has been emptied of its Yazidi minority residents in the wake of an IS onslaught.
"Kobane is facing the most barbaric attack in its history," he warned.
"If you want to avoid an ethnic cleansing even more barbaric than that in Sinjar, you must support Kobane because the next few hours will be decisive," he added in a statement late Friday.
Obama said last week he was ready to launch strikes on IS fighters in Syria, expanding the campaign already underway in Iraq, but so far there have been none.
The Observatory reported on Saturday that IS militants had executed at least 11 Kurds, and that the fate of some 800 residents who fled their villages remained "unknown".
As Turkey dealt with the arrivals on its southern border, the government in Ankara welcomed home the 46 Turks kidnapped by IS in the Iraqi city of Mosul in June. Three Iraqis were also detained.
It was unclear how the group, abducted from Turkey's consulate in Mosul, had been freed, though President Recep Tayyip Erdogan referred to a "secret operation".
There were emotional and triumphant scenes on their return, with Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu cutting short a trip to Azerbaijan to greet them.
"Early in the morning our citizens were handed over to us and we brought them back into our country," Davutoglu told reporters before leaving Baku.
"There are unnamed heroes, like those who brought our citizens back to Turkey," he told cheering crowds at the airport back in Ankara.
In other developments, a captive Lebanese soldier was executed by the Al-Nusra Front, the Syrian affiliate of Al-Qaeda, the government said.
Source : Sapa-AFP /mr
Date : 20 Sep 2014 21:45
Tens of thousands of Syrian Kurds flooded into Turkey on Saturday, fleeing an onslaught by the jihadist Islamic State group that prompted an appeal for international intervention.
The massive influx came as 46 Turks kidnapped by IS jihadists in Iraq in June were freed and returned home for emotional reunions with their families.
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said more than 60,000 Syrian Kurds had crossed into the country since the frontier was opened on Friday.
The exodus was prompted by intense clashes between IS and Kurdish fighters trying to hold off an assault on the town of Ain al-Arab, known as Kobane by the Kurds.
It is the third-largest Kurdish town in Syria and a strategic prize because it lies on the border with Turkey in northern Aleppo province.
Since Tuesday night, IS fighters have been advancing on the town, hoping to seize it and secure their control over a large swathe of Syria's northern border with Turkey.
The group has moved quickly, seizing at least 63 surrounding villages, although the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said 18 IS fighters were killed in clashes overnight.
It said 13 jihadists were killed on Saturday, and that 25 Kurdish fighters have been killed since Tuesday.
On Saturday, the Observatory said 300 Kurdish fighters had entered Syria from Turkey to reinforce the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) fighting IS.
People of all ages were among those seeking shelter in Turkey, including a child clutching a sibling's hand as they marched across the dusty border and an elderly wheelchair-bound woman helped by relatives.
"The IS came to our village and threatened everyone. They bombed our village and destroyed all the houses. They beheaded those who chose to stay," said Mohammed Isa, 43, who left with his family of seven.
Turkish forces cut the barbed wire along the frontier to make it easier for people to enter while soldiers and aid workers handed out food and water.
IS's advances have prompted calls from Syria's opposition and Kurdish officials for international intervention, with one leader warning of "ethnic cleansing".
The United States has organised a coalition of countries to tackle IS jihadists who have declared an Islamic "caliphate" in parts of Syria and Iraq and carried out abuses including beheadings and crucifixions.
American warplanes have launched a total of 183 air strikes across Iraq, targeting IS vehicles, checkpoints and outposts.
US President Barack Obama plans to make his case against IS before the world at the UN General Assembly next week in a bid for more international support.
The Syrian opposition National Coalition urged international air strikes to "stop mass atrocities" if IS advances into Ain al-Arab.
"Air strikes are needed to help opposition forces protect vulnerable civilians," the coalition's US representative Najib Ghadbian said.
And Salih Muslim Mohamed, a leader of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), urged the United States and Europe to help Ain al-Arab avoid the fate of the Iraqi town of Sinjar, which has been emptied of its Yazidi minority residents in the wake of an IS onslaught.
"Kobane is facing the most barbaric attack in its history," he warned.
"If you want to avoid an ethnic cleansing even more barbaric than that in Sinjar, you must support Kobane because the next few hours will be decisive," he added in a statement late Friday.
Obama said last week he was ready to launch strikes on IS fighters in Syria, expanding the campaign already underway in Iraq, but so far there have been none.
The Observatory reported on Saturday that IS militants had executed at least 11 Kurds, and that the fate of some 800 residents who fled their villages remained "unknown".
As Turkey dealt with the arrivals on its southern border, the government in Ankara welcomed home the 46 Turks kidnapped by IS in the Iraqi city of Mosul in June. Three Iraqis were also detained.
It was unclear how the group, abducted from Turkey's consulate in Mosul, had been freed, though President Recep Tayyip Erdogan referred to a "secret operation".
There were emotional and triumphant scenes on their return, with Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu cutting short a trip to Azerbaijan to greet them.
"Early in the morning our citizens were handed over to us and we brought them back into our country," Davutoglu told reporters before leaving Baku.
"There are unnamed heroes, like those who brought our citizens back to Turkey," he told cheering crowds at the airport back in Ankara.
In other developments, a captive Lebanese soldier was executed by the Al-Nusra Front, the Syrian affiliate of Al-Qaeda, the government said.
Source : Sapa-AFP /mr
Date : 20 Sep 2014 21:45
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
18 IS JIHADISTS KILLED FIGHTING SYRIA KURDS: MONITOR
At least 18 jihadists from the Islamic State group were killed in overnight clashes with Kurdish fighters in northern Syria near a strategic border, a monitoring group said Saturday.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the 18 militants, reportedly including one of Chinese nationality, were killed in fighting near the town of Ain al-Arab, known to the Kurds as Kobane.
The Observatory said Friday that Islamic State jihadists had seized 60 Kurdish villages near the Turkish border in a lightning two-day campaign as they close in on Ain al-Arab.
The town in Aleppo province is Syria's third largest Kurdish town, and would give IS control of a long stretch of the country's northern border with Turkey.
The fighting in the area has prompted an exodus of residents, many of whom have sought to cross into Turkey, which opened its border on Friday.
The Observatory said the fighting was continuing on Saturday and reported "heavy clashes" in the area around Ain al-Arab.
Source : Sapa-AFP /dm
Date : 20 Sep 2014 09:03
At least 18 jihadists from the Islamic State group were killed in overnight clashes with Kurdish fighters in northern Syria near a strategic border, a monitoring group said Saturday.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the 18 militants, reportedly including one of Chinese nationality, were killed in fighting near the town of Ain al-Arab, known to the Kurds as Kobane.
The Observatory said Friday that Islamic State jihadists had seized 60 Kurdish villages near the Turkish border in a lightning two-day campaign as they close in on Ain al-Arab.
The town in Aleppo province is Syria's third largest Kurdish town, and would give IS control of a long stretch of the country's northern border with Turkey.
The fighting in the area has prompted an exodus of residents, many of whom have sought to cross into Turkey, which opened its border on Friday.
The Observatory said the fighting was continuing on Saturday and reported "heavy clashes" in the area around Ain al-Arab.
Source : Sapa-AFP /dm
Date : 20 Sep 2014 09:03
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
US AIRSTRIKES SHIFT TO HEART OF ISLAMIC STATE-CONTROLLED CITY IN IRAQ
US airstrikes were directed at the city centre of jihadist-occupied Mosul for the first time Saturday, marking a strategic shift in the aerial campaign against the militant group known as the Islamic State.
Since the US began its strikes in northern Iraq in August, the pounding has targeted Islamic State targets on the outskirts of Mosul, which has been in jihadists' control since June.
But on Saturday, airstrikes concentrated upon the group's gatherings and facilities deep inside Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, according to local residents.
"The air raids caused heavy losses," one resident told dpa by phone without elaborating. There was no official comment.
The bombardment comes a day after France launched its first strikes against the Islamic State in north-eastern Iraq.
The French strikes, which targeted a depot manned by the al-Qaeda splinter group, killed at least 75 militants, independent Iraqi site Alsumaria News reported Saturday, citing an unnamed intelligence official.
The US is seeking to build an international coalition to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and neighbouring Syria, where the extremist Sunni group controls considerable territory.
President Francois Hollande has made clear that France would limit its strikes against the terrorist group purely to areas inside Iraq, ruling out involvement in Syria
France, which refused to be part of the US-led war in Iraq in 2003, has said Baghdad's request for aid to fight the Islamic State justifies intervention this time. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said any intervention would be an act of aggression.
The Islamic State has, in the last three days, consolidated its gains in northern Syria, seizing 60 mostly Kurdish villages near the Turkish border.
The jihadist' push has sent thousands of civilians fleeing towards the Turkish border.
Some 45,000 Syrian Kurds have crossed the border into Turkey, Ankara said on Saturday.
The Anadolu news agency quoted Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus as saying that eight crossing points were opened to allow the refugees in.
Turkey opened crossings on Friday as the Islamic State overran a string of villages in northern Syria.
Fierce clashes were Saturday going on between the jihadists and Kurdish militiamen on the edge of the mostly Kurdish town of Kabone close to the border with Turkey, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The Britain-based watchdog, citing Kurdish sources, said the Islamic State had executed at least 11 Kurds in the enclave. The Observatory did not give details.
The Kurd Press Agency said that Kurdish fighters were trying to hold off the Islamic State's takeover of Kobane amid fears of mass executions by the extremists.
Source : Sapa-dpa /kn
Date : 20 Sep 2014 17:23
US airstrikes were directed at the city centre of jihadist-occupied Mosul for the first time Saturday, marking a strategic shift in the aerial campaign against the militant group known as the Islamic State.
Since the US began its strikes in northern Iraq in August, the pounding has targeted Islamic State targets on the outskirts of Mosul, which has been in jihadists' control since June.
But on Saturday, airstrikes concentrated upon the group's gatherings and facilities deep inside Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, according to local residents.
"The air raids caused heavy losses," one resident told dpa by phone without elaborating. There was no official comment.
The bombardment comes a day after France launched its first strikes against the Islamic State in north-eastern Iraq.
The French strikes, which targeted a depot manned by the al-Qaeda splinter group, killed at least 75 militants, independent Iraqi site Alsumaria News reported Saturday, citing an unnamed intelligence official.
The US is seeking to build an international coalition to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and neighbouring Syria, where the extremist Sunni group controls considerable territory.
President Francois Hollande has made clear that France would limit its strikes against the terrorist group purely to areas inside Iraq, ruling out involvement in Syria
France, which refused to be part of the US-led war in Iraq in 2003, has said Baghdad's request for aid to fight the Islamic State justifies intervention this time. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said any intervention would be an act of aggression.
The Islamic State has, in the last three days, consolidated its gains in northern Syria, seizing 60 mostly Kurdish villages near the Turkish border.
The jihadist' push has sent thousands of civilians fleeing towards the Turkish border.
Some 45,000 Syrian Kurds have crossed the border into Turkey, Ankara said on Saturday.
The Anadolu news agency quoted Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus as saying that eight crossing points were opened to allow the refugees in.
Turkey opened crossings on Friday as the Islamic State overran a string of villages in northern Syria.
Fierce clashes were Saturday going on between the jihadists and Kurdish militiamen on the edge of the mostly Kurdish town of Kabone close to the border with Turkey, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The Britain-based watchdog, citing Kurdish sources, said the Islamic State had executed at least 11 Kurds in the enclave. The Observatory did not give details.
The Kurd Press Agency said that Kurdish fighters were trying to hold off the Islamic State's takeover of Kobane amid fears of mass executions by the extremists.
Source : Sapa-dpa /kn
Date : 20 Sep 2014 17:23
OrbitalDawn
Ulysses Everett McGill
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
MORE THAN 130,000 SYRIAN KURDS FLEE TO TURKEY
More than 130,000 Syrian Kurds have fled across the border into Turkey, escaping an advance by Islamic State jihadists, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said on Monday.
Meanwhile, Turkey's PKK Kurdish rebel group on Monday called on fellow Kurds to cross into Syria and combat IS insurgents besieging a town near the border, the pro-Kurdish agency Firat reported.
"The number of Syrians has passed 130,000," Kurtulmus told reporters in Ankara, warning that the number would likely rise.
IS extremists have seized dozens of villages in the past week as they advance on the town of Ain al-Arab, called Kobane in Kurdish, near the border.
"If ISIL attacks continue in the Kobane region, Turkey may face an intensive influx," Kurtulmus said, using one of a handful of alternative names for the IS group.
"We have taken all necessary measures in case of a continued influx of displaced people. We don't want that, of course, but we are ready," he added.
The latest total was a sharp increase from a figure of 104,000 given earlier Monday by Turkey's emergencies directorate.
"Some of the incoming refugees are due to stay at their relatives' houses in Turkey, and some will be transferred to the camps," a Turkish official told AFP.
The UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, on Saturday said that as many as hundreds of thousands of refugees might flee.
"We are ready for the worst scenario," Kurtulmus said. "The number of displaced people has not reached that level, but we will do everything to welcome those entering Turkey."
Until the IS assault, Kobane, the third biggest Kurdish population centre in Syria, had been relatively safe, sheltering 200,000 people displaced from elsewhere in the war-torn country.
Turkey's emergencies directorate, the AFAD, said authorities were clamping down at the border with Syria.
"The border is open, but only at one place at Mursitpinar, for better organisation of crossings," an AFAD official said.
"A single point has been opened for displaced Syrians, so that we can do identity control and give first aid, vaccinating people if necessary," the official said.
The outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by Turkey and its Western allies, called for "mobilisation," saying, "the day of glory and honour has arrived."
The appeal urged young Kurds in Turkey to join the fight against IS forces around Kobane region.
"We call on our entire people, as well as our friends, to step up the resistance," the PKK statement said.
Meanwhile, a PKK leader, Dursun Kalkan, appealed for "all Kurds to unite their forces," according to the Firat agency. He accused the Turkish government of "collaboration" with the IS radicals.
Ankara has been criticised for indirectly encouraging the formation of IS through its support of Islamist elements within the Syrian rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad -- criticism that Ankara has rejected.
On Sunday, Turkish police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse angry crowds of Kurds.
Turkey entered a truce in March 2013 with Kurdish PKK rebels, seeking self rule in the southeast. But peace talks to end a three-decade insurgency stalled after rebels said Ankara was not doing enough to improve conditions for the Kurdish minority.
Although hostilities have largely died down, sporadic violence erupts in the Kurdish-majority southeast.
After the lightening gains by IS militants in Iraq, Turkey has raised fears that weapons sent by Western countries to forces fighting the radicals may end up in the hands of the Kurdish separatist rebels -- a concern that Ankara conveyed to US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel this month.
Turkey had so far refused to get involved militarily in the US-led coalition to defeat jihadists, citing the safety of its dozens of hostages held in Mosul by the militants.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signalled Sunday that Turkey may re-evaluate its cooperation with the anti-IS coalition, now that the hostages have been released.
Source : Sapa-AFP /mr
Date : 22 Sep 2014 13:00
More than 130,000 Syrian Kurds have fled across the border into Turkey, escaping an advance by Islamic State jihadists, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said on Monday.
Meanwhile, Turkey's PKK Kurdish rebel group on Monday called on fellow Kurds to cross into Syria and combat IS insurgents besieging a town near the border, the pro-Kurdish agency Firat reported.
"The number of Syrians has passed 130,000," Kurtulmus told reporters in Ankara, warning that the number would likely rise.
IS extremists have seized dozens of villages in the past week as they advance on the town of Ain al-Arab, called Kobane in Kurdish, near the border.
"If ISIL attacks continue in the Kobane region, Turkey may face an intensive influx," Kurtulmus said, using one of a handful of alternative names for the IS group.
"We have taken all necessary measures in case of a continued influx of displaced people. We don't want that, of course, but we are ready," he added.
The latest total was a sharp increase from a figure of 104,000 given earlier Monday by Turkey's emergencies directorate.
"Some of the incoming refugees are due to stay at their relatives' houses in Turkey, and some will be transferred to the camps," a Turkish official told AFP.
The UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, on Saturday said that as many as hundreds of thousands of refugees might flee.
"We are ready for the worst scenario," Kurtulmus said. "The number of displaced people has not reached that level, but we will do everything to welcome those entering Turkey."
Until the IS assault, Kobane, the third biggest Kurdish population centre in Syria, had been relatively safe, sheltering 200,000 people displaced from elsewhere in the war-torn country.
Turkey's emergencies directorate, the AFAD, said authorities were clamping down at the border with Syria.
"The border is open, but only at one place at Mursitpinar, for better organisation of crossings," an AFAD official said.
"A single point has been opened for displaced Syrians, so that we can do identity control and give first aid, vaccinating people if necessary," the official said.
The outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by Turkey and its Western allies, called for "mobilisation," saying, "the day of glory and honour has arrived."
The appeal urged young Kurds in Turkey to join the fight against IS forces around Kobane region.
"We call on our entire people, as well as our friends, to step up the resistance," the PKK statement said.
Meanwhile, a PKK leader, Dursun Kalkan, appealed for "all Kurds to unite their forces," according to the Firat agency. He accused the Turkish government of "collaboration" with the IS radicals.
Ankara has been criticised for indirectly encouraging the formation of IS through its support of Islamist elements within the Syrian rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad -- criticism that Ankara has rejected.
On Sunday, Turkish police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse angry crowds of Kurds.
Turkey entered a truce in March 2013 with Kurdish PKK rebels, seeking self rule in the southeast. But peace talks to end a three-decade insurgency stalled after rebels said Ankara was not doing enough to improve conditions for the Kurdish minority.
Although hostilities have largely died down, sporadic violence erupts in the Kurdish-majority southeast.
After the lightening gains by IS militants in Iraq, Turkey has raised fears that weapons sent by Western countries to forces fighting the radicals may end up in the hands of the Kurdish separatist rebels -- a concern that Ankara conveyed to US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel this month.
Turkey had so far refused to get involved militarily in the US-led coalition to defeat jihadists, citing the safety of its dozens of hostages held in Mosul by the militants.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signalled Sunday that Turkey may re-evaluate its cooperation with the anti-IS coalition, now that the hostages have been released.
Source : Sapa-AFP /mr
Date : 22 Sep 2014 13:00
falcon786
Honorary Master
I would rather they be tried and awarded the death penalty/jail time if they are guilty of conspiring to kill innocent people.Much more humane than gitmo,and the death penalty sets an example for others thinking of committing similar atrocities.
Idiots.
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
DON'T RULE OUT GROUND TROOPS TO FIGHT IS JIHADISTS: BLAIR
Britain's former prime minister and Middle East peace envoy Tony Blair said Monday that sending ground troops to fight the Islamic State (IS) group should not be ruled out.
Blair, who sent British forces to fight wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, said he knew "as well as anyone" the difficulties of any such move but insisted it should not be discounted.
IS jihadists control large areas of Iraq and Syria and calls for tougher action against them have grown after the beheading of two US journalists and a British aid worker in Syria, captured on graphic videos.
The US has been carrying out air strikes in Iraq since last month against IS, with France joining the aerial attacks from Friday.
"I accept fully there is no appetite for ground engagement in the West," Blair wrote in an essay on the website of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation.
"But we should not rule it out in the future if it is absolutely necessary. Provided that there is the consent of the population directly threatened and with the broadest achievable alliance, we have, on occasion, to play our part."
He added that air power alone "will not suffice" in the fight against the IS group.
"They can be hemmed in, harried and to a degree contained by air power. But they can't be defeated by it," Blair added.
"You cannot uproot this extremism unless you go to where it originates and fight it."
Blair sees the conflict in Iraq and Syria as part of a wider global problem with radical Islam which also spans unrest in Pakistan, Nigeria, Mali and China's Xinjiang province.
"This is not a clash of civilisations. It is a struggle between those who believe in peaceful co-existence for people of all faiths and none and extremists who would use religion wrongly as a source of violence and conflict," he wrote.
Source : Sapa-AFP /mr
Date : 22 Sep 2014 14:12
Britain's former prime minister and Middle East peace envoy Tony Blair said Monday that sending ground troops to fight the Islamic State (IS) group should not be ruled out.
Blair, who sent British forces to fight wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, said he knew "as well as anyone" the difficulties of any such move but insisted it should not be discounted.
IS jihadists control large areas of Iraq and Syria and calls for tougher action against them have grown after the beheading of two US journalists and a British aid worker in Syria, captured on graphic videos.
The US has been carrying out air strikes in Iraq since last month against IS, with France joining the aerial attacks from Friday.
"I accept fully there is no appetite for ground engagement in the West," Blair wrote in an essay on the website of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation.
"But we should not rule it out in the future if it is absolutely necessary. Provided that there is the consent of the population directly threatened and with the broadest achievable alliance, we have, on occasion, to play our part."
He added that air power alone "will not suffice" in the fight against the IS group.
"They can be hemmed in, harried and to a degree contained by air power. But they can't be defeated by it," Blair added.
"You cannot uproot this extremism unless you go to where it originates and fight it."
Blair sees the conflict in Iraq and Syria as part of a wider global problem with radical Islam which also spans unrest in Pakistan, Nigeria, Mali and China's Xinjiang province.
"This is not a clash of civilisations. It is a struggle between those who believe in peaceful co-existence for people of all faiths and none and extremists who would use religion wrongly as a source of violence and conflict," he wrote.
Source : Sapa-AFP /mr
Date : 22 Sep 2014 14:12
