Turkey awaits its part in fighting Islamic State

ANKARA, Turkey, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- Turkey, under pressure to help Kurdish forces fighting the Islamic State in the town of Kobane, Syria, remained noncommittal about involvement Thursday.

"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 hold back from playing its part," said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu after meeting in Ankara, Turkey, with NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg.

While Cavusoglu called for a no-fly buffer zone over the Syria-Turkey border, the Kurdish-held town of Kobane, under siege from the IS, gradually falling to IS forces who, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says, are advancing toward the center of town amid heavy shelling from U.S.-led coalition airstrikes and heavy fighting on the ground.

Kobane is within sight of the Turkish border, where Turkey has amassed troops, tanks and other military equipment. Turkey is reluctant to enter the war in Syria because it has long been engaged in an internal conflict with its Kurdish minority and because Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is as eager to remove Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as he is IS forces approaching the border.

At least 12 people have been killed in pro-Kurdish demonstrations, urging Turkey's involvement against IS, in cities across Turkey. Police ended a demonstration in Istanbul Wednesday with tear gas and water cannons.

The United States has rejected Turkey's idea for a buffer zone as too costly and too complex to implement. Turkey, a NATO member, received authorization by its parliament last week to fight IS militants in Syria and Iraq, as well as station foreign troops involved in the fight on Turkish soil.