Damascus calls entry of Peshmerga forces a violation of its sovereignty

The Syrian government has responded angrily to the movement of Iraqi Peshmerga forces into the besieged city of Kobani, in northern Syria, calling it a “blatant encroachment” on Syria’s sovereignty and a “flagrant intervention” in its domestic affairs.

Citing a statement released on Wednesday, Anadolu news agency quoted Syria’s Foreign Ministry as saying that: “The entry of Peshmerga forces into Syria through Turkish territory is a flagrant intervention in the country’s internal affairs.”

The statement added that Turkey has “hostile intentions” towards Syria and its people and Turkish interference in Syria’s internal affairs is a “flagrant violation” of Syria’s sovereignty.

The spokesperson of the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs in the territory of northern Iraq, Osman Rishi, said that ten members of the Peshmerga fighters had crossed into Syria through the Turkish border, near Soroj, to the city of Ain Arab, also known as Kobani, in order to determine the zones where additional Peshmerga forces should be concentrated.

According to Anadolu, a convoy of Peshmerga forces from northern Iraq, loaded with heavy weapons, entered Turkey on Thursday morning via the Khabur crossing and then moved to Soroj, the border town with Syria, accompanied by the Turkish security forces, in preparation for crossing into Kobani. The convoy is first expected to meet with another group of Peshmerga, which reached Turkey by private jet on Thursday at dawn and has been waiting in Soroj since then, in order to cross the border together as one convoy.

The Iraqi Peshmerga forces are travelling to Syria to assist Syrian Kurds defend their territory from the militant Islamic State (ISIS) organisation.