Turkey is helping with the passage of Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga fighters to Kobani to aid Syrian Kurds defending the town against ISIS militants, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Monday.



Cavusoglu, speaking at a news conference, did not provide details on the transfer of the fighters. Kobani has been surrounded by ISIS militants for more than a month, and Turkey has until now refused calls from Kurdish forces to allow arms to flow through its territory to help the defenders.


MIDEAST-CRISIS/UN

Turkish Kurds watch the Syrian town of Kobani from near the Mursitpinar border crossing, on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern town of Suruc on Sunday. (Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters)



Earlier, the U.S. military said it had air-dropped arms to the Syrian Kurds in Kobani. Asked about U.S. airdrops, Cavusoglu said Turkey is fully co-operating with the international coalition against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.


"We are fully co-operating with the coalition with respect to Kobani," he said. "We want the eliminate all kinds of threats in the region, and we see the military and medical aid, outfitted by our Iraqi Kurdish brothers and air dropped by the United States to all groups defending Kobani, from that perspective."


Turkish Foreign Ministry officials said Turkish airspace was not used during air drops carried out by the United States to support the Kurdish fighters defending Kobani.


U.S. officials said on Sunday the air drops included medical supplies and weapons provided by the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq.