--- title: ISIL: Turkey Will Allow Iraqi Kurds To Join ISIS vs Kobani Battle description: Turkey said Monday that it will help Iraqi Kurdish fighters cross its border to fight ISIS militants who have besieged a city in Syria canonical: https://time.com/3524194/isil-isis-turkey-kurdish-iraq-syria-kobani/ author: Naina Bajekal article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-20T11:12:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T10:52:58.049Z article:section: World og:title: ISIL: Turkey Will Allow Iraqi Kurds To Join ISIS vs Kobani Battle og:description: Turkey said Monday that it will help Iraqi Kurdish fighters cross its border to fight ISIS militants who have besieged a city in Syria og:url: https://time.com/3524194/isil-isis-turkey-kurdish-iraq-syria-kobani/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt89e2804b71df86f7/6987619be20a872c3da828c0/457492402.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TURKEY-SYRIA-KURDS-CONFLICT og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: ISIL: Turkey Will Allow Iraqi Kurds To Join ISIS vs Kobani Battle twitter:description: Turkey said Monday that it will help Iraqi Kurdish fighters cross its border to fight ISIS militants who have besieged a city in Syria twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt89e2804b71df86f7/6987619be20a872c3da828c0/457492402.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Turkey Will Help Iraqi Kurds Join Fight Against ISIS in Syria  by [Naina Bajekal](/author/naina-bajekal/)  ## Naina Bajekal Bajekal was executive editor and international editor at TIME. Oct 20, 2014 11:12 AM CUT  Kurdish people watch the Syrian town of Kobane from the Turkish border in the southeastern village of Mursitpinar, Sanliurfa province, on Oct. 19, 2014. Kurdish people watch the Syrian town of Kobane from the Turkish border in the southeastern village of Mursitpinar, Sanliurfa province, on Oct. 19, 2014.Bulent Kilic—AFP/Getty Images  by [Naina Bajekal](/author/naina-bajekal/)  ## Naina Bajekal Bajekal was executive editor and international editor at TIME. Oct 20, 2014 11:12 AM CUT Turkey said Monday that it will [help Iraqi Kurdish fighters cross its border](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-29685830 "undefined") to fight militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) who have besieged a city in Syria. “We are helping peshmerga forces cross into Kobani,” the BBC quoted Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu as saying in a news conference. He didn’t give any further details. Turkey has come under pressure to increase its support for the international coalition fighting ISIS, and the announcement represents a significant shift from Ankara. Until now, Turkey has refused to allow Kurdish fighters to cross into Syria because of links between Syrian Kurds and Turkey’s own separatist rebels. The announcement came just hours after the [U.S. made multiple airdrops](http://time.com/3523275/kurds-isis-kobani-us-airdrops-syria-turkey/ "undefined") of weapons, ammunition and medical supplies to Kurdish forces in Kobani, who now appear to be gaining the upper hand against ISIS. _\[_[_BBC_](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-29685830 "undefined")_\]_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3524194/isil-isis-turkey-kurdish-iraq-syria-kobani/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3524194/isil-isis-turkey-kurdish-iraq-syria-kobani/"},"headline":"Turkey Will Help Iraqi Kurds Join Fight Against ISIS in Syria","datePublished":"2014-10-20T11:12:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:52:58.049Z","description":"A shift in Ankara","url":"https://time.com/3524194/isil-isis-turkey-kurdish-iraq-syria-kobani/","keywords":["ISIS","Turkey","Kurds","Kobani"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt89e2804b71df86f7/6987619be20a872c3da828c0/457492402.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Naina Bajekal","jobTitle":"Bajekal was executive editor and international editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/naina-bajekal/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt89e2804b71df86f7/6987619be20a872c3da828c0/457492402.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"TURKEY-SYRIA-KURDS-CONFLICT","caption":"TURKEY-SYRIA-KURDS-CONFLICT","creditText":"Bulent Kilic—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3524194/isil-isis-turkey-kurdish-iraq-syria-kobani/","name":"Turkey Will Help Iraqi Kurds Join Fight Against ISIS in Syria"}}]}] ```