At least 19 people were reported killed in riots across Turkey, the deadliest street unrest in years, after the Kurdish minority rose up in fury at the government’s refusal to protect a besieged Syrian town from Islamic State.
Street battles raged between Kurdish protesters and police across Turkey’s mainly Kurdish southeast, as the fallout from war in Syria and Iraq threatened to unravel the Nato member’s own delicate peace process. There were also clashes in the commercial hub Istanbul and capital Ankara.
Across the frontier, US-led air strikes appeared to have pushed Islamic State fighters back to the edges of the Syrian Kurdish border town of Kobani, which the militants have been poised to capture this week after a three-week siege.
Washington said its war planes, along with those of coalition ally the United Arab Emirates, had struck nine targets in Syria, including six near Kobani that hit Islamic State artillery and armoured vehicles. It also struck Iraq five times.
Nevertheless, Kobani remained under intense bombardment from Islamic State positions within sight of Turkish tanks that have so far done nothing to help.
US officials were quoted expressing impatience with the Turks for refusing to join the military coalition against Islamic State fighters who have seized much of Syria and Iraq.
