By Zerya Shakely in London and Deniz Serinci in Copenhagen
LONDON – The leader of Syrian Kurds told thousands of protesters in Germany that Kurdish fighters are resisting the Islamic State’s (ISIS) assaults on Kobane, but said there would be no shame in losing the battle.
"Not one of our warriors or officials in Kobane has stepped back, they stand and resist,” Salih Muslim, leader of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), told at least 20,000 Kurdish protesters in Dusseldorf on Saturday. “Kobane will not fall," he vowed.
In London, meanwhile, 3,000 Kurds chanted “biji biji Kobane” – “live live Kobane” – the latest in a week of protests across Europe. Smaller groups of protesters turned out Saturday in Paris, Helsinki, Copenhagen, Stockholm and the Swiss city of Lucerne.
Muslim told the huge crowd in the Rhine river Germany city that, “As long as we have Arin Mirkans, Kobane will not fall,” referring to a female Kurdish commander in Kobane who killed an unknown number of ISIS fighters in a suicide attack last weekend.
Muslim denied reports that the People’s Protection Units (YPG), the main force holding out against ISIS in a month of fighting in which at least 553 people been reported killed, was losing the battle for Kobane. The YPG will “fight to the very end,” he promised.
"If one day we lose, it's not something we should be ashamed of, because we have fought. The ones who promised us help but did not keep their promises should be ashamed," said Muslim, the PYD's co-president, in a couched reference to Turkey.
Intense fighting and US-led airstrikes continues in Kobane, where town officials have said ISIS has brought in heavy weapons and more fighters.
US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said the situation in the embattled town abutting the Turkish border, remains “dangerous.” He also reported “considerable progress” in talks with Turkey to intervene in the conflict, but did not give details.
In London’s Parliament Square, some 3,000 people showed up in support of Kobane, and to express Kurdish frustration over Turkish inaction.
The protesters, mainly British Kurds, held up placards calling for greater global support in the fight for Kobane, before moving toward the capital’s Trafalgar Square.
Aysegul Erdogan, a Kurdish human rights activist in Britain, said one aim of the protest was to get the UK parliament to encourage Turkish help in Kobane, where the PYD has asked for more weapons.
“Turkey is blocking military and humanitarian aid to the Kurdish forces and civilians fighting IS,” Erdogan said about the Islamic State, or IS. “They are not helping the Kurdish forces fight IS.”
Saturday’s demonstration followed a number of others organized in London in the past week. Thousands marched the streets of northeast London a week ago, and Kurdish activists forced one of the capital’s busiest underground train stations to temporarily close down last Monday.
“We need help from the Obama administration and the UK government to fight IS,” said Jehad Majid, a protester at Saturday’s demonstration. “It’s been 27 days now and no one is helping the Kurdish people.”
Last week, US and NATO officials met in Ankara to encourage Turkish involvement in the fight for Kobane, where ISIS is now reported in control of about a third of the town.
Berivan Coscun, a young demonstrator and among the organizers of the London protest, accused Turkey of directly supplying weapons to ISIS and financially supporting the group.
“We don’t want support from Turkey, we don’t expect it from Turkey, we just want them to take the barriers down and allow countries that want to help the Kurds to fight through Turkey,” she said, referring to Turkey’s closure of the border with Kobane.
Ankara has been wary of helping out the Syrian Kurds for fear that would empower its own restive Kurdish population of some 15 million. The PYD has links to Turkey’s own outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has fought a 30-year war for autonomy.
In the Danish capital Copenhagen, several hundred Kurds demonstrated outside the Turkish Embassy.
"Turkey allows jihadists to cross into Syria and watches passively while Kobane risks great massacre,” Mizgin Baneyi, one of the demonstrators, told Rudaw.
"If the Kurds lose Kobane, then all Kurds will go berserk, and they will do everything to save Kobane again. I am sure there are many who will leave here for Kobane to fight," said Fatih Baran, one of the protest organizers.
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