Islamic State crisis: Kurdish fighters arrive in Turkey

(BBC) - A group of 150 Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga fighters have arrived in Turkey from where they plan to cross into Syria to battle Islamic State (IS) militants besieging the town of Kobane.

One contingent flew from Iraq to a south-eastern Turkish airport.

Another contingent, carrying weapons including artillery, is travelling separately by land through Turkey.

Turkey agreed to the deployment last week after refusing to allow Turkish Kurds to cross the border to fight.

Thousands of cheering, flag-waving supporters gathered to see off the Kurds as they left the Iraqi Kurdish capital of Irbil by plane.

The first batch of Peshmerga forces landed early on Wednesday at Sanliurfa airport in south-eastern Turkey, according to the AP news agency.

They are then reported to have left the airport in buses escorted by Turkish security forces and are expected to get to Kobane through the Mursitpinar border crossing.

Earlier, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu rejected claims that he was not doing enough to end the jihadist assault.

He told the BBC that Turkey would only take part once the US-led coalition against IS had an "integrated strategy" that included action against the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Bakudaily.Az