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Fight For Kobani Will See 200 Iraqi Kurdish Fighters Join The Battle

Turkey Agrees To Send 200 Iraqi Kurds To Fight In Kobani
Reuters
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Thick smoke from an airstrike by the US-led coalition rises in Kobani, Syria, as seen from a hilltop on the outskirts of Suruc, at the Turkey-Syria border, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2014. Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab, and its surrounding areas, has been under assault by extremists of the Islamic State group since mid-September and is being defended by Kurdish fighters. (AP Photo/Levend Ali)

RIGA, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday agreement had been reached on sending 200 Kurdish peshmerga fighters from Iraq through Turkey to help defend the Syrian border town of Kobani against Islamic State militants.

A senior official in Iraq's Kurdistan region told Reuters the peshmerga would be equipped with heavier weapons than those being used by Kurdish fighters in Kobani, who say they need armor-piercing weapons to fend off Islamic State.

Iraqi Kurdish lawmakers on Wednesday approved sending the fighters, marking the semi-autonomous region's first military foray into Syria's war.

"I have learned that they finally reached agreement on a figure of 200 (fighters)," Erdogan told a news conference in the Latvian capital Riga.

Peshmerga spokesman Halgurd Hikmat said preparations to deploy to Kobani were going on, but it would not happen on Thursday.

Islamic State, keen to consolidate territorial gains in northern Syria, has pressed an offensive on Kobani even as U.S.-led forces continue bombing the militants' positions.

The United States has air-dropped weapons and medical supplies to Kurds in Kobani provided by Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

Erdogan on Thursday renewed criticism of the move, describing the main Kurdish force defending the town as a "terrorist" group.

"Did Turkey view this business positively? No it didn't. America did this in spite of Turkey and I told him Kobani is not currently a strategic place for you, if anything it is strategic for us," he said of a telephone call with U.S. President Barack Obama at the weekend. (Reporting by Aija Krutaine and Humeyra Pamuk and Isabel Coles in Arbil; Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

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Before You Go

Syria War In October
(01 of22)
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Turkish Kurds pictured on the outskirts of Suruc, on the Turkey-Syria border, as smoke rises in the background from a strike on Kobani, Oct. 7, 2014. (credit:AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
(02 of22)
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Smoke rises after an airstrike in Kobani, Syria as fighting intensifies between Syrian Kurds and the militants of Islamic State group, as seen from Mursitpinar in the outskirts of Suruc, Turkey, Oct. 7, 2014. (credit:AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
(03 of22)
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Turkish Kurds run from tear gas fired by Turkish forces on the outskirts of Suruc, at the Turkey-Syria border, Oct. 7, 2014. (credit:AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
(04 of22)
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In this image shot with an extreme telephoto lens and through haze from the outskirts of Suruc on the Turkey-Syria border, militants with the Islamic State group are seen after placing their group's flag on a hilltop on the eastern side of Kobani, Syria, Oct. 6, 2014. (credit:AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
(05 of22)
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Turkish Kurds walk as tanks in the background hold their positions on a hilltop in the outskirts of Suruc, at the Turkey-Syria border, Oct. 6, 2014. (credit:AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
(06 of22)
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A Kurdish man looks across the Syrian town of Ain al-Arab, known as Kobani by the Kurds, in the southeastern town of Suruc, Sanliurfa province, on Oct. 7, 2014. (credit:ARIS MESSINIS/AFP/Getty Images)
(07 of22)
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A Kurdish man looks through binoculars across to Kobani from the Turkish town of Suruc, on Oct. 7, 2014. (credit:ARIS MESSINIS/AFP/Getty Images)
(08 of22)
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A Turkish armoured personnel carrier patrols on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern town of Suruc, Turkey, on Oct. 7, 2014. (credit:ARIS MESSINIS/AFP/Getty Images)
(09 of22)
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In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian President Bashar Assad, center, prays during Eid al-Adha prayer at a mosque in Damascus, Syria, Oct. 4, 2014. (credit: AP Photo/SANA)
(10 of22)
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Turkish forces in riot gear prepare to confront potential Kurdish demonstrators at the Turkey-Syria border, Oct. 5, 2014. (credit:AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
(11 of22)
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A refugee carries her belongings as she arrives in Suruc, Turkey, Oct. 4, 2014. (credit:AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)
(12 of22)
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A formation of U.S. Navy F-18E Super Hornets supporting operations against ISIS leaves after receiving fuel from a KC-135 Stratotanker over Iraq, in this photo released by the U.S. Air Force, Oct. 4, 2014. (credit:AP Photo/U.S. Air Force, Shawn Nickel)
(13 of22)
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A Turkish soldier stops a horse cart from entering a hilltop area at Mursitpinar near Suruc, at the Turkey-Syria border overlooking Kobani, Oct. 5, 2014. (credit:AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
(14 of22)
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Turkish Kurds watch mortar shelling in Kobani, Syria from Suruc, Turkey, Oct. 4, 2014. (credit:AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)
(15 of22)
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Turkish soldiers approach people demonstrating in support of Syrian Kurds amid fighting in Kobani, in Mursitpinar near Suruc, Turkey, Oct. 4, 2014. (credit:AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)
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A refugee arrives in Suruc, Turkey, Oct. 4, 2014. (credit:AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)
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Turkish soldiers take position near the border with Syria amid fighting in Kobani, Oct. 4, 2014. (credit:AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)
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A protester chants slogans as riot police guard the main entrance of the European Parliament in Brussels during a demonstration calling for support for the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani, Oct. 7, 2014. (credit:EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images)
(19 of22)
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A photo taken from the Suruc district of Sanliurfa, Turkey shows a man watching Kobani in Syria after the US-led coalition bombed Islamic State targets on Oct. 7, 2014. (credit:Emin Menguarslan/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
(20 of22)
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A general view taken on Oct. 6, 2014, shows the Dakhaniyeh neighborhood, southeast of the capital Damascus, after Syrian government forces seized control of area. (credit:STR/AFP/Getty Images)
(21 of22)
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A picture taken on Oct. 6, 2014, shows a heavily damaged arch at the entrance of the Dakhaniyeh neighborhood, southeast of the capital Damascus, after Syrian government forces seized control of area. (credit:STR/AFP/Getty Images)
(22 of22)
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Men eat lunch as thousands of new Syrian refugees from Kobani arrive at the Turkey-Syria border crossing of Yumurtalik near Suruc, Turkey, Oct. 1, 2014. (credit:AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)
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