Getting Rid of ISIL or Assad?

As the military campaign against the armed group continues in Syria and Iraq, differences among allies emerge.

The US-led alliance fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) is intensifying its attacks against the group in Iraq and Syria.

But despite the unrelenting air strikes, ISIL is still capturing new territory in both countries.

While the US says that ISIL should be destroyed, some of its allies - Turkey and Saudi Arabia in particular - argue that this should not be the priority. Ankara and Riyadh argue that getting rid of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should come first.

Those differences are seen as the main reason why Turkey is still reluctant to get involved in the battle for the Syrian town of Kobane, which sits just across the border.

As people watch the situation in the Middle East deteriorate Turkey, a country which borders Syria, Iraq and Iran has done little to stop ISILs advances. Why? There are 30 million Kurds who live in not only Turkey but Syria, Iran and Iraq. Kurds have long sought a nation state of their own yet the governments of the countries have done everything in their power to prevent this outcome. From Saddam's chemical attacks in 1988 to Turkey enacting laws which outlawed the Kurdish language, culture, arts and music. In the early 1990's the PKK was formed a Kurdish group which fought the Turkish government in the hope of having a state of their own. Since then 40,000 people have died in the conflict. For these reasons Turkey is more afraid of the Kurds than of ISIL.