PYD Co-President Asya Abdullah who spoke to ANF's Sedat Sur about Saturday's suicide attacks in Mürşitpınar border gate area said that the ISIS attack on Kobanê launched from Turkish territory had not only targeted military forces, adding that one dimension of the attack had been an attempt to carry out a massacre of civilians.

Asya Abdullah recalled that there were thousands of civilians in the area near the border, most of them women and children, adding that the Turkish authorities had completely disregarded the lives of these civilians by allowing ISIS to use Turkish territory. She stressed that as long as the ISIS gangs possessed heavy weaponry civilians in Kobanê had no security of life.

'An attempt to carry out a massacre similar to Sinjar’

PYD Co-President Asya Abdullah recalled that ISIS was notorious for its slaughter of civilians, saying: 'Sinjar is the most obvious example of this. It is abundantly clear that the people of Kobanê are opposed to ISIS and its system. If the ISIS gangs had succeeded in getting into the city from the border gate the first thing they would have done is torture and slaughter the thousands of people who resisted them and who live close to the border crossing. If the YPG forces had not made an immediate intervention a massacre similar to that which took place in Sinjar would have occurred.”

'Turkish state disregarded lives of thousands of civilians'

Asya Abdullah said it was apparent that when the Turkish authorities allowed ISIS to use Turkish territory it had completely disregarded the lives of thousands of civilians. She added: 'It is therefore necessary for Turkey, who we see as a friend, to abandon these policies. As a first step those responsible must be exposed and prosecuted.”

‘As long as the ISIS gangs have heavy weaponry there is a risk of massacre’

Asya Abdullah recalled that the ISIS gangs had heavy weaponry, saying: 'On the day of the attack from the border gate they fired more than 150 mortars, targeting civilian areas. This demonstrates that as long as ISIS has these weapons there is a risk of a massacre of civilians in Kobanê.” She concluded by calling on international public opinion to step up its support for Kobanê.