Turkey urges military support for Syria's 'moderate opposition'

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Sunday called for military backing for Syria's "moderate opposition" to create a "third force" in the war-torn country to take on the Damascus regime as well as Islamic State militants. The call comes as Turkey faces international pressure to step in to defend the mainly Kurdish Syrian border town of Kobane from IS jihadists.
"We need a security force to protect the Syrian people both from IS and the regime," the premier said in an interview with the pro-government Sabah daily. "The solution is a third force....which represents the Syrian people and is made up of Syrians, not foreign fighters," he was quoted as saying, adding that such a force should represent all Syrian factions, including the main exiled opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition.