Syrian Kurds, not ISIL, hid in Turkish soil during Kobane clashes: Army sources

Uğur Ergan ANKARA

A destroyed Turkish Grain Board (TMO) silo near the Mürşitpınar crossing gate at Suruç in Turkey’s Şanlıurfa province is seen in this Nov 30 photo. DHA Photo

The Turkish military has ruled out Turkey’s pro-Kurdish opposition party’s claims that Islamist jihadists fired on Syrian Kurdish militants from the Turkish side of the border with Syria.

The sources instead claim that Syrian Kurds were using a Turkish depot for shelter while Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants stayed across the border for only “a few minutes.”

Turkish and Syrian Kurdish officials, as well as the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, had claimed that two ISIL suicide attacks targeting a border post on Nov. 29 were launched from the Turkish side of the border.

Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) co-leader Selahattin Demirtaş also claimed that there are images showing ISIL militants firing at Kobane from Turkish Grain Board (TMO) silos.

However, speaking to daily Hürriyet on Dec. 1, military sources denied ISIL militants used the Turkish state buildings, claiming Syrian Kurdish fighters of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) were discovered to be hiding in the depot.

“Around 20 YPG fighters were discovered hiding in the TMO building, fleeing from clashes between ISIL and the YPG, and they were sent back by state officials,” sources told Hürriyet.

They also admitted that a “few ISIL militants” entered Turkish soil during clashes, but insisted they only stayed for a few minutes before border patrols intervened.

“A few ISIL militants entered Turkish soil during the clashes. While armored units rushed toward that region, ISIL militants left Turkish soil. The total duration of the time they stayed in Turkey has been measured as 1 minute and 39 seconds. Everything can be seen in the recordings,” they said.