Zürcher Nachrichten - Turkey pro-Kurd party urges end to Kobane siege

The situation in Kobane had escalated from a crisis into a "deadly catastrophe", DEM said after sending a delegation to visit northeastern Syria which over the past week has been targeted by a major Syrian military offensive.

The Kurdish-held city, which is also known as Ain al-Arab, is surrounded by the Turkish border to its north and government forces on all sides.

It lies around 200 kilometres (125 miles) from the Kurds' stronghold in Syria's far northeast.

"Both the military and humanitarian siege on Kobane must be lifted as soon as possible," said DEM co-chair Tulay Hatimogullari.

Kurdish forces have withdrawn from areas near Kobane over the past week following pressure from the Syrian military as President Ahmed al-Sharaa seeks to extend his control across the country.

As the military offensive advanced, residents of surrounding villages flooded into Kobane, where they were now stranded, Hatimogullari said.

"When we went, the snow was knee-deep... Electricity has been cut off, the internet is cut off, water is cut off. This is a great humanitarian tragedy," she told a news conference.

With Kobane's access to fuel and heating cut off, DEM said four children had frozen to death on Saturday as a result of extreme cold and a lack of shelter.

Pharmacies were empty and there was a severe shortage of flour, food and medicine, with hunger widespread, it said.

"Guarantor countries... must urgently carry out their responsibilities to lift the siege on northern and eastern Syria," she said.

She was referring to the US and western allies who for years have thrown their support behind the Kurdish-dominated SDF forces that have been forced out of the area.

- Another protest banned -

Damascus is now demanding the SDF disband, and Washington has indicated its historical alliance with the force has served its purpose.

Kobane is highly significant for the Kurds as it was overrun by Islamic State (IS) jihadists in 2014 but the city was liberated in January 2015 by US-backed SDF forces.

Although SDF went on to spearhead the fight that forced IS out of Syria in 2019, Turkey has long viewed the force as linked to the Kurdish militant PKK and a major threat along its southern border.

It has thrown its weight behind Damascus's current military offensive, prompting fury from DEM and Turkey's Kurdish community who have staged a number of protests against the offensive.

In Istanbul, scuffles broke out during the afternoon as riot police sought to prevent around 300 people from protesting, firing riot balls and pepper spray to disperse them, an AFP correspondent said.

A DEM lawmaker was injured and taken to hospital, local media said, and police could be seen making arrests but it was not clear how many.

Earlier on Saturday Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hailed the ongoing Syrian offensive against the SDF.

"Terrorist organisations are being pushed out of those regions by the Syrian army.. All these sources of trouble for our country are being resolved," he said.

"When this separatist terrorist organisation is tackled once and for all in northern Syria, the whole region will benefit from it."

A.Wyss--NZN