turkey's own regards where it with regards isil, the attacks on turkish soil, and turkey's approach to that since is to back some of these rebel groups like the syrian revolutionary front. but at the same time there is this commitment to overthrowing the assad regime, and one condition that turkey has impo imposed is that there should be no cooperation whatsoever with the assad regime. but i actually think they would want to drop links with the regime entirely. the very first airstrikes struck kobane some weeks ago in attempt to fend off imis the work of the regime. it wasn't reported on in pyt media, but they had reached out to the regime via an intermediatary, and they've reached out to him to get the regimes to call airstrikes. when that was not effective there was an outreach towards the west. but despite that, you know, further out to the east you see systems between the pyt and the regime, and for turkey that is completely unacceptable, and so i think there is too much mutual distrust to see the unity and considered action against isil. >> it would be considered a set back if isi

turkey. says the council on foreign relations stephen cook. >> essentially this oil is being laundered. by the time it crosses the border into turkey or sold in turkey, it does not look like this oil has come from isis. >> and they must consider a potential for armed militants to take action on turkish soil. a patricia sabga, al jazeera. >> earlier today i sat down with the obama administration's point man david cohen at the department of the treasury. he's often described as a financial batman going after the money of groups in countries that the united states with targets with sanctions. his group with an one-man shot from the time of the 9/11 attacks to a 700 member force, today, cohen told me not to confuse isil's remarkable fundraising abilities with financial strength. listen to what he said. >> i think the point is not to confuse funding with financial strength. for a terrorist organization, really, like any organization, what matters is not just the revenue side but the expense side.

turkey needs to get involved.e watched them go across -- particularly in northern iraq against the kurds, and if they feel threatened -- and i think they do feel threatened, that's why the no-fly zone has come up. the turks could be very helpful here. i don't think we're going to find what we need in the free syrian army but i think it's going to have to be turkey. >> turkey is a key member of nato. it has a huge military right now. if they wanted to send in a few divisions, they could go in and clean out that area around kobani without a lot of difficulty, right? >> right. but what i think we need to do is have a political and diplomatic and economic strategy. you've got to work the diplomat tech and political side with turkey. that's extremely important. they are a member of nato. they've been a very productive member. they helped when i went into the balkans as did the russians, by the way, and that's another problem. but i would include the russians in trying to stem a threat that's equally dangerous to them a

what turkey should do. if turkish military intervenes kobane, i am sure many of these media or international parties will criticize turkey. the only way to help kobane since other countries don't want to use ground troops is send in some peace-oriented or moderate forces to kobane. what are they? peshmerga. peshmerga is part of the iraqi army. constitutionally, they are part of the iraqi army. but if other countries, americans, europeans want to send their troops, turkey never said no. >> but they've said repeatedly that they will not send ground troops. >> if they don't want to send grund tro ground troops, how can they expect turkey to send turkish ground troops with the same risk on our border? the question is here, it's easy to say something against another country, but they have to make empathy and they should ask what can we do, and what can we expect from turkey to do? >> could you do more, sir, to stop the flow of jihadis going across your border? because they are going across. >> we never allow any

so turkey has to do something.et me repeat, turkey should act together with theth the allies,h those countries already fighting against isis. i would not suggest turkey to act on its own. i would suggest turkey to act together with the international coalition, and i would advise turkey to act together with the carrots. --kurds. this would be strong for the whole region. you cannot select your neighbors. turkey has to live together with the kurds, and the kurds have to live together with turkey. >> that was the cochair of the german green party, speaking to dw earlier. the deadline has come and gone, and he says he is not going. >> hong kong's chief executive, leung chun-ying, has declared he will not resign, defying a midnight deadline set by student demonstrators demanding democratic reform. >> but he says his government will hold talks with protesters. we will go live to hong kong in just a moment. first, this report. >> hong kong's pro-democracy protests have shown no sign of letting up. activist have called for

but turkey has no winter ash no intention of intervening -- turkey has no intention of intervening. >it is not realistic to expect turkey to conduct a ground operation on its own. we are holding talks. once there is a common decision, turkey will not shy away from its part. >> but it wants coordinate action to target syrian government forces, something nato rejects. out of fear, the alliance could be dragged into serious's -- into serious service -- syria's civil war. >> i welcome the parliament in turkey to authorize turkey to take a more active part in the broader international effort to fight isil. >> that is not enough for turkey's kurds. they took to the streets again to protest inaction. many believe the turks want kobani to fall, because that would damage the kurds autonomy. >> we will get lyrical announcements and analysis from is gambler just a bit. hanna joins us from kobani. it is indicated that the kurdish fighters are holding their ground right now against islamic state. just a few days ago it look like that would not be the case. what are you hearing? >> yesterday, it fe

then you have kurds here in turkey extremely angry that turkey is blocking them from crossing over to fight with the kurdish militia there. >> pick up on the issue about the kurds, we've got the protests happening in turkey. just explain to us the reasoning why turkey is so reluctant to help the kurds specifically. >> bad blood between turkey and the kurds runs very deep indeed. there is a legacy of conflict here. 30 years of armed conflict between the kurdish separatists in turkey and the turkish state that only ended relatively recently, and a peace process shaken by the crisis in kobane. so what the turkish government is saying is that the pkk, its offshoot in syria, the turkish president says that is the same as islamic state for turkey. so i think there's no indication that turkey will want to help the kurdish michigan there. the fear of emboldening the kurdish michigan hekurd ish militia there. there's no indication that it will go guns blazing into syria or iraq. >> thanks very much for bringing us up to date with what was said with that. turkey's reluctance to get involved in

there was a feeling that turkey's inaction, that turkey's hostility was showing that turkey is more interestedlping islamic state than helping the kurds. if turkey can say look, we are now helping, we are allowing peshmerga to go and help the kurdish fighters in syria, it will placate the kurds somewhat here possibly, and it would show that the cur key is helping in the way that it can without really getting the anger of turkish nationalists who would say well, why are you helping a terrorist organization? so turkey's treading a very delicate line here, and it is finally getting involved, it appears, in the syria fight, but in a way which would be domestically acceptable. >> mark lowen there in istanbul. many thanks indeed. >> reporter: as you can see probably behind me, this is kobane about a kilometer away from where i'm standing inside the turkish territory. kobane is very quiet for the second day. very quiet. and that means that probably there is not much presence of i.s. in this city itself anymore. maybe one or two pockets of resistance here and there. and they may be outside the city th

it's people in turkey.e than 20 people killed in the rioting over the last few days it's amazing. over a year of protests in istanbul, fewer than ten people were killed. and in one weekend of rioting over what's going on in kobani more than 20, perhaps more than 25 people are killed. that tells you that this is something that people feel very passionately about in turkey just as much as outside. >> yeah. at least 24 people killed, dead in those demonstrations. that's clearly a worrisome situation when the demonstrations become deadly, not only violent but deadly. thanks very much. always good to have you here with us. still come, one day before a major event in north korea, the leader kim jong-un. has he be stripped of his power? what's going on. we'll have a report. big day? ah, the usual. moved some new cars. hauled a bunch of steel. kept the supermarket shelves stocked. made sure everyone got their latest gadgets. what's up for the next shift? ah, nothing much. just keeping the lights on. (laugh) nice. d

turkey would like the u.s.ategy to be broadened, and a safe zone to be created and no fly zone to be reat itted and take the fight to assad, which is the source of instability and the reason why these terrorist groups emerged in the first place. >> does that not undermine the premise that the kurdish may be pushed to the side. the turkish forces only want to take on assad, and that's the bigger picture that they are thinking of? >> no, close to 200,000 kurdish refugees have come in to turkey -- >> i'm talking about the bigger political picture. i'm talking about what happens geopolitically in that region. >> exactly. when -- when left alone, if there is no broader strategy, you will have -- have continuous vacuum, political vacuum that will be filled by various different groups who will -- who will be only concerned about holding on to their little area, and it will effectively mean the -- sort of disunity of syria, so to keep the country together, and make sure that there's a political transition in -- in dama

i think turkey certainly doesn't want to see a kurdish uprising here in turkey.ds have come to watch from across turkey, and many kurds have come from germany to observe it. so there's a real commitment by the kurds. they say if kobani falls there will be a huge a backlash in turkey. and nobody wants to see that. so we'll see what message we receive tomorrow. >>> well, who are the pkk, the kurdistan workers party. they have confirmed that its southeastern positions have been hit by turkish war a planes. this is the first significant attack against the pkk since the peace process started two years ago. they fought against the turkish government for around 30 years. it wants more autonomy for the kurdish minority within turkey's borders. but in early 2013 a ceasefire was declared and the pkk withdrew its fighter s to the kurdistan region of northern iraq. bernard smith has the latest. >> reporter: the p kk has confirmed it was on the receiving end of air strikes from the turkish military. it says two bases were attacked although no one was killed. the turkish milit

, and he explains how this has affected turkey's relationship with its main ally. >> turkey has put itself odd position, because there is a heroic resistance against isil taking place just on the other side of the turkish border in a kurdish canton called kobani. turkey is pretty much sitting on its hands during this conflict, saying that the two parties involved, unisil are islamic terrorists, the other are kurdish terrorists. it really doesn't care who wins and doesn't want to get involved in the outcome. this has been a terrible public relations defeat, i suppose for turkey. the united states has decided to support the resistance in kobani, the kurdish resistance in kobani, and pretty much ignored turkey's objectives. so turkey has fallen out with its principal ally over this issue. >>> israeli police in jerusalem have fired shots at palestinians who threw fire crackers during friday prayer. muslim worshippers held prayers in the street after israeli forces refused to allow them in to the al-aqsa mosque. >>> houthi rebels have give the yemenny government ten days to form a new governmen

erdogan told his audience that turkey isn't just in a fight against isil. >> translator: one of turkey'sorities is to have a strong and just government in damascus. we cannot be indecisive about the situation in the gulf and the larger middle east. how can we remain uninterested given the crisis on two fronts on our barredders. we will not sit idle. >> reporter: on thursday, turkey's parliament will likely approve motions allowing turkish force to his join the fight against isil in turkey and iraq. also allowing foreign force to his use its bases. that means the possibility of u.s. jets taking off for iraq and syria from an air base in southern turk i bernard smith, aal jazerra on the turkey syria border. >>> a top thine ease official is reportedly heading to hong kong as beijing warns that mass protests in the territory are illegal. activists are threatening to storm government buildings over the next few hours that's if the chief executive doesn't quit. hundreds of policemen are cordoning off his office. while thousands remain camped out on the streets as you can see. demonstrators are

turkey changes tack and says it is helping iraqi kurdish fighters into turkey. screening passengers from the worst-affected nations. ministers are debating how to get more -- a government rocked by two high-level resignations. two rising figures. controversial reopening of the nuclear reactor. coming up in the next hour -- france's budget hits the road. tw ministerso are on the road to discuss. you take a closer look at the reasons why nigeria -- we will take a will salute at the reasons why -- u.s. transport planes airdropped weapons, ammunition, and medical supplies to the kurdish forces as they hold off the latest islamist offensive. the iraqi kurds had been appealing to be allowed to aid their brethren. the total in and around kobane in recent weeks is 135. >> explosions in kobane. u.s. bombers have been carrying out raids on the syrian border town since the end of september, attacks that could have turned the tide against the islamic state group. u.s. central command announced three planes have dropped 27 bombs -- turkey has been under pressure to provide s

now turkey is pushing back on that. turkey says that that story is not correct.t has not agreed to uallow use of its basses. the white house is standing by susan rice. you get sense, john, of both the tensions and combinations surrounding these negotiations with turkey. >> so now officials have talks this week. any indication of what we can expect? >> reporter: that's right. the talks will hit on the question of the bases used, but also look at the broader question of moderate syrian opposition forces and how they should be trained and dealt with. and turkey wants to see this fight brought to the doorstep of president assad. the u.s. says at this point its goal is fighting isil. so they have a disagreement there. turkey always wants to see a buffer zone border space created between its country and syria, to stop the flow of refugees coming across from syria, as well as to train the forces. so you can expect those topics to be on the table. and the u.s. still has its eye on the goal of trying to get more turkish help and access. >> all right. libby thanks. >>> ten

there were doing so in southeast turkey against kurdish militants. u.s. says, wrong target, turkey. a lot of stuff to work out here here to john kerry trying to strike a positive note. it is fair to say that turkey is still gawking at that more muscular role. >> before it became a battleground for the islamic state group and the coalition, it had a population of some 70,000. that has now dwindled down to the hundreds. the fighting has split up families with some finding shelter across the border in turkey. >> plumes of smoke rise over the city as us-led airstrikes have intensified. from this hill across the border in turkey, kurds anxiously watched the fighting unfold. he came to turkey for business, leaving behind his family. the war has separated him from his wife and children were now stranded. >> i can't get through. i fear they are already dead. >> unable to get through, he tries again from the hill. he can see the district seized by jihadists. anxious to hear from his family. then, he receives a phone call. it his his daughter could -- it is his daughter. >> things are all ful

turkey's president talking to some syrian refugees says that turkey will not go it alone.terms of intervention in to this particular fight. give the american public an understanding of why turkey is so hesitant to get involved when it's right across their border? >> i would encourage you to ask that question of the u.s. -- of the turkish government and the turkish mil military but one thg is clear and everything has to be clear here. ice it's is a militant, isis is nobody's friend, it's a cancer. what goes around will come around. isis did not attack the peshmerga forces in northern iraq then after a while they turned it on them as well. turkey right now may be spared of the violence, but rest assured, isis is nobody's friends, isis doesn't care about any of these values, if isis cares about anything, if they are truly talking on behalf of islam, the people that they are massacring in kobane today are for the most part muslim and for the most part sunni. so what justifies these causes and massacre beats me. so this is a clear indication for both the international community

. >>> forces have moved closer to being being turkey as turkey considers a counterattack. >>> ebola, anybody who had contact with ebola in dallas, meanwhile how to contain the disease. >>> decades old henry kissinger proposal to clobber cuba. we begin tonight with live pictures from hong kong where it is now 8:00 a.m. thursday morning and the cries for democracy continue to grow stronger. demonstrators in those umbrellas and tents say they intend to escalate their peaceful protests today, if hong kong's chief executive does not step down. and the activates are threaten to-d and the activists are threatening to respond. as they did had 25 years ago in tienanmen square beijing. we will have the latest in hong kong just ahead. first our top story. the resignation of julia pearson. the secret service chief. after tough questioning, she offered her resignation and the white house accepted it. mike viqueria has the story. mike. >> when it comes to the safety of the president there is no margin of error. the writing was on the wall. wednesday morning the white house insisted julia pearson w

turkey feel about the u.s. region at the moment, does it feel somewhat boxed in? >> well, there is a turkish resentment as far as u.s. is concerned because there has been a bloody war for the past three years and allegations of using chemical weapons and turkey doesn't feel the world has done much where for a city which probably few knew until two months ago there is this huge outcry as far as the kurds fighting and are concerned. turkey feels that there is also a mistaken approach to the situation. in the eyes of turkey isil is a threat and it needs to be tackled but it sees it as a mosquito which comes around of the swamp and the swamp is assad and they want to see a larger action of the u.s. to dry out the swamp which in the eyes of turkey is the regime of bashar al-assad. >> they will let it to go across the territory so they can fight in kobani but not doing the same for the pkk? >> reporter: there is a problem because turkey sees isil as an important thread because this is an organization which held turki

why is turkey holding back? parliament has given approval now for military action. >> that's something many kurds underground, particularly kurds in turkey in kobane fighting the i.s. militants. they were hoping turkish tanks lining up across the border will interfere and help them to push back isis. so far, since last week, turkey has been reluctant to do this. i think turkey is worried with what happened in syria. there is a sort of consideration, sort of democratic autonomy in syria by the kurds. turkey is worried this model could be copied by its own kurdish population, which has been at odds with turkey in the past, more than three decades. that's why turkey is worried about what's happening there. >> so why are we seeing these turkish tanks that we can see right now on the screen massing on the border? >> if you talk to people, many people say turkish officials want to make sure that the war wouldn't split over aiming at i.s. militants, but the reality is they are there to prevent anything across the borde

it's going to be hard for turkey to go back now and turkey really matters. >> the turning point for turkey came hours after the u.s. air dropped much oh-needed weapons to kurds fighting isil in kobane. >> every indication we have this morning is that the bundles made it to the hands we want them to make it to. we're trying to shore up their ability to defend that town. >> secretary of state john kerry in jakarta gatheringation support for the fight against isil said the u.s. shares turkey's concerns. both countries consider it a terrorist group but with kobane in danger of falling, the u.s. urged turkey to allow the peshmerga in. >> it is a crisis moment and emergency where we clearly do not want to see kobane become a horrible example of the unwillingness of people failing to help those fighting isil. >> this is a shift in tone by the obama administration about the significance of kobane. frankly, dell, u.s. officials say they hope to do do this isil. >> perk megacommanders are stretched thin battling isil. is turkey actually making much of a difference or is this just a gesture and far t

and the kurds in turkey know this.nd they believe turkey is holding back because it doesn't like the kurds in northern syria. >> thank you for that, jasper mortimer, reporting from ankara. income a suicide bomb has gone off -- next in yemen, a suicide bomb has gone off. as many as 40 people were killed with more hurt. >> bloodstains, torn up clothing and shoes, this is all that remains of a checkpoint where shiite threw two protesters had been queuing up to enter a demonstration. witnesses say a man wearing explosives blew himself up in the middle of the crowd. >> while we were going to square, we heard an explosion. we were just behind the bridge. when we arrived at the square we saw dead bodies everywhere. >> tutsi rebels took control of yemen's capital weeks ago. they say they will withdraw their men when a new power-sharing government is appointed. the hutus organized thursday's rally in -- the tuesday's organized thursday's rally in objection to the president. they decided to go ahead with the demonstration and de

than a million are living in turkey. recognize that fact. but on the other side, there are concerns. the main opposition party actually says it talks about these concerns, about sending troops across the border. there is not very much appetite for that. the turkish government had actually previously worded their -- they want to establish a security zone and a no-fly zone across the border, but the pro-kurdish population in turkey don't want that to happen because they think such an action will actually harm the resistance in kobane against the islamic state. so we can say the opinion is pretty much divided when it comes to sending troops across the border or securing a security zone in the border area. >> okay, selin, thanks very much. nice to see you. >>> the commander of international forces in afghanistan has told the bbc he doesn't think militants from the islamic state have extended their operations to the country. general john campbell says he's seen no credible evidence to support the claim, despite persistent rum

against turkey. and he has done this about face, saying okay, i'll allow some peshmerga to help relieve the siege. but up until now, there are not a lot of peshmerga across the border. they may come back, and it's not as if there's a wholesale relief army of peshmerga coming into kobane. i think we're expecting 200 to 150 fighters to help with the siege. >> okay, andrew finkel, also of turkey with what everyone needs to know. thank you very much indeed, live istanbul. >> well, the iraqi army says that it's now making important gains in the fight against isle there on the border. capturing large parts of territory in the northern and central parts of the territory, but government forces have been advanced toward the city of baiji, a isle command center in the of baghdad. and it's vital to both sides to have control of the baiji refinery. >> this is what most of the fighting in isil now looks like. street to street, in deserted neighborhoods. isil fighters are just a few hundred meters of the road. thi

not coming to turkey with specific requests here. we're trying to make sure all the nations we talked to end this coalition are contributing what they can, what they believe is feasible, what they believe is most helpful. turkey has a stake here. they are right on the border. not just with syria, but iraq. they have a refugee problem. more than a million. and they have a foreign fighter flow problem across their border. they are very much invested in this. but we are in close consultations with the turks about what they can do, what they will do, and again those talks are ongoing. i do not have anything to report out on that. it is right there on the border. >> ok, john kirby, thank you for joining us. >> my pleasure. >> tonight three people in koran teen in a spanish hospital as officials there try to prevent the ebola virus from spreading. that shend two people came into contact with are all being closely monitored. in west africa, the disease is already spreading and spreading fast. nearly two and a half thousand people have been

because in the past when turkey joined a similar effort, let's say 1991, iraq or gulf war, turkey had to deal with a refugee crisis and other security concerns this emanated from that corporation. now i think what changed turkey's position is a proper n.a.t.o. and american guarantee over not leaving turkey alone. >> what specific guarantees is turkey able to get. >> most specifically, you know, when foreign troops enter turkey. the guarantee that they will not leave turkish territory once i.s.i.s., and basically whichever splinter organization that remains in iraq and syria, don't threaten turkey. in the past what happened is that, you know, ender lick air space had n.a.t.o. yet, they bombed iraq, and when they left turkey dealt with an angry group of people. this time the guarantees are security guarantees. n.a.t.o. or the anti-i.s. coalition will not leave turkey alone once the operation is done. and will, you know, stay with turkey in the backlash part. >> speaking of the backlash, that is the interesting point, because there could be quite big implications for turkey, now that it'

insurgency back here in turkey.e turkish government is saying is look, both america and britain do not want to send ground troops into syria. we don't want to do that either because we fear retaliation. so turkey is trying to strike some kind of compromise with the nato alliance, that by allowing training of moderate opposition groups on turkish soil, that could show that they're moving forward a little bit in the involvement in the coalition. but it's clear that the air strikes alone are not going to win this fight. so now a lot of discussion is under way as to what more assistance can be provide sod that kobane does not fall to islamic state. >> mark lowen in istanbul. many thanks. >>> pro-democracy demonstrators in hong kong are flocking to the main protest site after an eventful day that started with police removing some barricades. scuffles broke out there after pro-democracy protesters clashed with groups of masked men. the angry crowd tried to charge barricades, but were held back by police officers. the demo

what do you make of these reports that turkey has started to bomb pkk kurdish positions inside turkey? there was a cease-fire for a couple of years. >> boy, you know, wolf, you just can't make it up. 25 years ago, i'm at the cia and we have unity of effort across saudi arabia and pakistanis and others group. they were committed to the fight over the course of years and the u.s. behind the scenes ultimately degrading the soviet military and forcing them to depart. 25 years later, you have americans fighting islamists but refusing to ousting al assad. bottom line the lack of unity of effort will prolong the program to eliminate isis. this is all to isis advantage. >> why is isis, peter, so strong? in the face of the u.s.-led air strikes, isis seems to be gaining strength in syria and iraq. >> they have been in this business a long time. iraq and al qaeda been around a decade so the leaders of this group, many of whom, by the way, were in saddam's army and have military speakexpertise. they know what they are doing. suicide attacks are not available to other players and they are up again

the notion of counting on turkey asa a nato ally or we come to turkey's defense.take and turkey comes with unclean hands. >> why are they in nato. they have a huge military and$b ambition and jets et cetera, and so if they are not doing anything for nato and literally watching the fight as if they are at a movie, why aren't they kicked out of nato. we are in a struggle with turkey. the erdogan government, when he was prime minister and now president. they followed the plan of a secular westernizing muslim country. erdogan, has tried to move turkey in that is not our interest. but we ought to back the secular turks who want to stick with the direction they took after world war i. and the turks are taking themselves out of nato. >> and ambassador, in the end, if kobani falls, isn't there a risk of 160000 kurds, doing in a genocide there? >> this is how complicated it is. j inside turkey and throughout europe. kurds have demonstrated against the turks indifference. they may have provoked a problem by standing off if they had actually gotten involved and this reflects

in turkey, there's tengion with the carrots, and turkey --kurds, and turkey's own kurds are getting angry they are not doing enough. ankara will be worried. >> we have to leave it there. thank you very much for your report from kobani. >> the german military has begun flying in aid to liberian capital fof monrovia. this comes as a second patient with ebola has arrived in germany for treatment at a special medical center. the ugandan dr. contracted the virus in sierra leone, where he was working for an italian aid organization. >> his condition is very serious , but stable. emergency services brought him from frankfurt airport to the university hospital. they have an isolation unit that can treat up to six ebola patients simultaneously. >> the story is moving on several fronts, including the united states. richard walker, our correspondent in washington. a possible case of ebola in washington, d.c., and health officials are scrambling to make sure this is not a repeat of what we just saw in dallas. >> that's right. in washington, a patient has been put in isolation after going in with symp

turkey wants to protect the border with syria. the initial plan suggesting demilitarized zones would be created in idlib and aleppo. more from al jazeera's rosalind jordan. >> at least 11 bombing runs in and around kobane tuesday and wednesday. u.s. and allied fighter jets launching an 11th hour effort to take on the i.s.i.l. fighters. with residents seeking refuge in turkey, the turkish president recep tayyip erdogan wants the u.s. to do more, wanting a buffer zone inside syria, to send the refugees back. >> francis hollande endorsed the idea. and the u.s. secretary of state was open to the idea. >> if syrian citizens can return to syria and be protected in an area across the border, there's a lot that would commend that. at the same time you'd have to guarantee safety, guarantee there wouldn't be attacks by the government, other kinds of things would have to happen. it needs a thorough examination. we are all in favour of looking at this closely. >> kerry's comments appear to be out of step with the rest of the obama administrat

more now on our top story and turkey's decision to join the u.s.paign against isil and joining us is andrew a journalist in turkey since 1989 and covered the region for years and thank you andrew for being with us on al jazeera and until recently turkey was not talking about joining the military, what changed, was it internal or external pressure? >> well, it does seem to have a bit of a conversion and i think people date this change in mood from the president erdawan's visit to the united nations and it's clear he came from pressure for turkey traditional nato allies and the turkish border deteriorated so much they do not feel they can be passive and has to have a policy and has to be able to do something but it's not quite sure what. turkey parliament talked about the it yesterday and gave them a deck to do what it wanted and launch operations itself and assist allies in helping them to fight but we don't actually know what the turkish government is actually going to do with the powers. >> interestingly tush cherokee's involvement came from the r

al jazeera on the turkey-syrian border. >> the united states wants turkey to do more to prevent isilfrom taking control of kobane. mike viqueira is live at the white house. what does the obama administration want turkey to do? >> reporter: well, general john allen, retired marine general president obama has capped as the coalition together. the united states is openly calling for turkey to get involved in the u.s.-led coalition. the u.s. wants one thing and turkey wants another thing. the assad regime must go in the estimation of turkey militarily the united states does not want to do that. turkey wants a no-fly zone on its border. the united states considers that a de facto way of attacking the regime itself. he did get a commitment with turkey to take a commitment of training. and the state department said they're in this for the long haul. here is the deputy spokesperson. >> just because allies did not come out two weeks ago and said they would do something doesn't mean that we wouldn't welcome support going forward. we need support in the long haul. it's not about one day or way

he is just back from turkey.we will come back with them to talk about what is happening in israel and the palestinian occupied territories in a moment. ♪ [music break] >> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with aaron matÉ. >> we turn now to israel and the occupied territories. on monday, the israeli government made a rare appearance before the united nations human rights committee. each u.n. member state is reviewed every four years for its compliance with the international covenant on civil and political rights. that task was especially significant coming just weeks after israel ended an assault on gaza that killed nearly 2,200 palestinians, including more than 500 children. emi palmor, the director-general of israel's justice ministry, pledged her government's "sincere approach" to the panel's mandate. >> we decided to bring along the highest-ranking experts on the issues is we're supposed to answer. indeed, you can see, for the first time the director general, m

, thank you. >> the turkey foreign minister said it's unfair to ask turkey to go it alone. >> turkey has a positively on all three camps, isis itself, so some degree on the kurds fighting in kobane and above all, on the assad government in syria. what the turks want is u.s. commitment for a no-3 zone to help the turks overthrow assad eventually and to keep additional refugee flows going into turkey. the u.s. envoy is talking with the turkish government today, but we don't have any break through yet. >> you mention that had no fly zone or no buffer zone. why can't the u.s. and turkey agree on what to do here? >> that's a very good question. first of all, having negotiated for many years with the turks, they are tough negotiators and sometimes they can be stubborn. the u.s. administration has not really clarified its position on assad. the turks believe and many of us outside of the u.s. government believe that assad is part of the underlying problem that led to isis. you can't deal with isis without dealing with assad. that's the turk message and it's a pretty good message. we need to

so turkey is weighing up its options, but there is a lot of pressure on turkey to get involved. the leader of the kurds here in turkey who's in prison saying that if kobane falls to islamic state, that would be the end of the peace process between the turks and the kurds. meanwhile, speculation continues here as to why 46 turkish citizens were released from being held hostage by islamic state in iraq since last you know. they were released about two and a half weeks ago. a report today in a british newspaper saying that they were released as part of a prisoner exchange with islamic state in which up to 180 jihadis, foreign jihadis who were planning to fight with islamic state were released to the group. and we understand -- the report saying that ten of those 180 were e.u. citizens, two of them brits. the bbc has spoken to the foreign office in britain which says the reports of a prisoner exchange are credible. we are trying to get a confirmation from the turkish government, but bear in mind, it's the eid muslim holiday and we're not yet getting a response from the turkish gover

on turkey to join the fight. nationwide demonstrations overnight pushing for turkish troops to do more. 12 protestors were killed in those clashes. lisa stark is in washington. why has the fight for kobane taken on such significance? >> >> the town is right on the turkish border, strategically located. isil could solidify it's position taking the town. they're a minority population, just the kind of folks president obama has said the battle is there to protect. that's why the u.s. is there. even despite there and despite the stepped up adjustment airstrikes, the pentagon's top military advisor in an interview admitted the town may not last long. >> i am fearful that kobane will fall. we have been striking when we can. isils a learning enemy and now how to maneuver and use populations and concealment. when we get a target, we'll take it. >> they will, in fact take a target when they get it. the problem is that some say the fact that despite the airstrikes, isil has been able to continue to advance, shows in fact t

among turkish americans is that the same in turkey?you get the sense from everything you have been hearing that the turkey also supports this. >> >> i think they are torn on this, even though there was a majority vote, i think a lot are concerned not only because of a war on their border, the turks have been dealing with this for the past decade with a war on their border. and the turks are really pushing for asaad's removal so it sounds like to an extent, the united states is helping the iraqi government and there by perhapsing helping iran, in turkey the situation is to the extent that turkey is fighting isil it may help the curds a long time point of friction. i think you touch on, i think you are spot on in how complicated this is, because there's so many moving pieces. and in as much as -- i think turkey was fighting. which is one reason why isis has very powerful. but now that it has grown powerful, it is in this quandary, where does it support the muslims against asaad? because it wants asaad gone? and turkey is very afraid that

they should act as turkey is always acting first.s why we must declare a no-fly zone and buffer zone. we should also provide support, reinforcements and training to the free syrian army. >> turkey has put itself in an odd position because there is a heroic resistance against isil taking place just on the other side of the turkish border in a kurdish canton called kobani. turkey is pretty much sitting on its handing during this conflict, they says both sides are terrorists, and doesn't want to be involved in the outcome. this has led to accusations that it is dee facto supporting isil. and this has been a defeat, i suppose for turkey. the united states has decided to support the resistance in kobani and pretty much ignored turkey's objectives. so turkey has fallen out with his ally over this issue. >>> a standoff took place in a neighborhood of jerusalem, where in the nearby area, muslim worshippers held prayers in the streets. >> reporter: the situation here at the damascus gate outside of the old city in occupied east jerusalem is o

aljazeera on the turkey-syria border. >> while the battle rages, a diplomatic dispute between turkey and the u.s. continues to simmer. president obama's team seems to be coming up empty here. what is the main problem? >> the main problem is the fact that both the united states and turkey want the same thing, they won't bashar al assad and his regime to leave damascus and leave nominal control over syria. the question is they want to do it differently. that is the main difference. turkey wouldn't mind fit were done militarily, the united states is not willing to go that far. turkey wants a no flow zone, buffer zone on its border, a secure zone. the united states considers that tantamount to attacking assad's forces. general john allen is a retired marine general. president obama tapped him to go to the region and develop this military coalition. he and his deputy spent two days in turkey, came up dry with a promise to have more meetings next week. they want turkey more militarily involved as well as financially involved and one more ask publicly today, making no babies about it and wa

it's the refusal of turkey to help militarily that upset many kurds in turkey. hundreds of protesters took to the streets demanding ankara send in the army to stop kobane falling to i.s.i.l. the protest turned deadly with several killed. they claimed police used live ammunition, and protest juniors attempt to storm the police station. earlier on tuesday, while visiting a refugee camp for syrians, the president recep tayyip erdogan admitted that ground invasions was needed but that turkey would not go it alone. >> translation: i.s.i.l. cannot be solved with air strikes. we warned the west. we wanted three things, a no-fly zone, a secure zone parallel and training moderate syrian rebels. >> reporter: there are some free syrian army groups fighting alongside the kurds. this was posted online by an f.s.a. group. recep tayyip erdogan wants the f.s.a. to join in the fight. ut fighters of i.s.i.l., and the syrian regime must be fought. it seems the international community is struggling to combat i.s.i.l. on its own. >>> our correspondent bernard smith joins us live on

doesn't attack turkey, you say turkey should not attack i.s.i.l. >> yes, correct. yes. if there's no reason - if there's no track. touch army doesn't attack. at a nearby movings. this man shied away from giving his point of view. but expressed app opinion shared by everyone. what am i feeling. everywhere feel it better. it's the situation over to the - all over. and nobody like that. what are happiness, turks around the world will be watching. randall pinkston, al jazeera, sunniside queens, new york. >>> coming up in 20 minutes, nick schifrin reports from the syrian-turkey border with a story of a smuggler that helped dozens of foreigners crossing, many of them fighting with i.s.i.l. back in the united states, severe norms from michigan -- storms from michigan to texas, look at this community, winds greater than 60kph , knocking down trees, ripping off roofs. kevin corriveau is here with more. rough night of. >> it is an amazing storm system. 40 million people in the frontal boundary affected by the storm system. in dallas, 250,000 people are without power as the storm

they don't all get along with turkey. >> no, it puts turkey in a tough position. because for a long time, the krg, the iraqi kurds there, and the kurds have gotten along quite well. the kurds invested a lot of money in the region, and the pkk on the other hand, has been locked in a very long, several year struggle with turkey, and with up until now, in a sort of peace process. though though their leader imprisoned by turkey and all of that hangs in the balance now. >> so when we see turkey not doing anything right now, along the border, except pointing their tanks on the border. >> for photographers. >> what's the chance that turkey will get involved? holding back because they don't like th the pkk? >> they're serious allegations, and they would be substantiated and they would love to see isil take care of this problem in kobane. >> they're more concerned about the kurds in some ways than isil. >> i think naively so. they think that they can control isil. they got their 48 hostages back, and there were a lot of folks on the ground. and that was a sham anyway. thei