update/correction: Sympathy for IS among Turkish police as “Twitter quickly withholds tweets for Turkey’s ‘national security’…

President Erdoan is under pressure to intervene against Isis forces, but he distrusts western aims in Syria and is dealing with a difficult Kurdish equationThe eyes of the world have been focused for the last few days on a little Kurdish town in Syria which few had heard of until a week or so ago. The plight of Kobani, close to the Turkish border, and under siege by Islamic State forces as they try to establish control over ever-larger territory in Syria and Iraq, is being presented as a sort of morality tale. There is growing international pressure on Ankara to prevent yet another military advance by Islamic State (Isis) and a further humanitarian disaster in a region that has already undergone much suffering. Turkey, after all, has tanks and troops on the border just across from Kobani. If it reinforced the efforts of the US-led air campaign by action on the ground, Turkey could compensate for the limitations of that campaign. Surely, it is argued, Turkey would not wish Isis to take control of long sections of its border with Syria. Turkish involvement would also be in line with its Nato membership, even if the alliance isnt formally mobilised against Isis.

Iranians Join Protests in Support of Syria-Turkey Border Town Kobane, Beseiged by ISIS  Global Voices Online by Mahsa Alimardani A poster in Kurdish and Persian, calling for a gathering in front of the United Nations office in Iran in support of Kobane on Wednesday, October 8, 2014.