Newsy World
Up to 200,000 people have fled ISIS in Syria in the past four days. -CNN. The refugees are from the town of Kobani, a Kurdish town, which had been threatened by ISIS. 130,000 of those refugees have entered Turkey. Turkey has been criticized for it's handling of the situation, largely because they were reluctant to let the Kurds in. While refugees are fleeing ISIS, many Kurds are crossing the border the other way to join the fight. They will have a tough fight on their hands, ISIS has brought heavy weapons to Syria from Iraq, including tanks and artillery. ISIS has captured 60 villages in Syria in the past few days.
My Comment:
I'm sure the Turks are anything but pleased to bring these Kurds in. They have had problems with Kurdish insurgents for years. The fact that these people were let in to Turkey at all is an example of how desperate the situation against ISIS is. If nothing else Turkey would have been rightly criticized if they hadn't let these refugees in. Of course the fact that many militant Kurds are leaving Turkey to fight in Syria is probably considered a "bonus" for the Turks.
As for ISIS it seems that they have had a shift in priorities. American and French airstrikes may have forced them to concentrate their forces in Syria. It's possible that they haven't though and if that's true it's even more impressive that ISIS has been so successful this week. It also doesn't say much for the fighting prowess of the Syrian Kurds, who have been praised everywhere, including this blog. It's not all their fault, they are completely outgunned and they aren't getting the support that the Iraqi Kurds are. They need a ton of help and it doesn't look like they will get it.
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