Clashes have broken out at the Turkish border with Syria as hundreds of Kurds gathered in an attempt to join the fightback against ISIL.
Turkish security forces fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse the crowd. The outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has stoked tensions by calling for young Turks to rush to save Kobani, a besieged border town, from the militants.
The group has accused Turkey of supporting the jihadists, which Ankara strenuously denies.
Meanwhile Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeated his call for a buffer zone inside Syrian territory for refugees from the latest violence on its border.
“There are three important steps that need to be taken. One of them is to launch and to maintain the security of a no-fly zone. Secondly, a secure buffer zone should be established inside Syria. Thirdly, we need to arrange training and supplies with our partners for these projects,” said Erdogan.
Turkey has so far declined to take a front-line role in the US-led coalition against ISIL or Islamic State, which has captured large parts of Iraq & Syria in recent months.
More than 140,000 Syrian Kurds have fled into Turkey over the past week as ISIL fighters seized dozens of villages close to the border.
