Turkey urged to support self-defence operation in Syria: UN official
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Staffan de Mistura, the UN Special Envoy for Syria
Turkish authorities have been urged by the United Nations to help facilitate a self-defence operation in order to protect civilians in the Syrian town of Kobane.
For the past three weeks, the city of 400,000 inhabitants has been under siege, with reported executions and other atrocities by the Islamist militant group ISIL, including reports of human heads being mounted on fences.
Staffan de Mistura, the UN Special Envoy for Syria, appealed to Turkey to allow volunteers to cross into Syria to defend the people in the border town of Kobane.
“We would like to appeal to the Turkish authorities in order to allow the flow of volunteers at least, and their equipment to be able to enter the city to contribute to a self-defence operation.” (14″)
Mr de Mistura added that if Kobane falls to ISIL, there could be close to 400 kilometres of the Turkish border under their control.
He said after massacres like the one which took place in Srebrenica, Bosnia in 2005, the UN will never give up on human rights.
Stephanie Coutrix, United Nations.
Duration: 1’12″
