Middle East
7 October 2014
Last updated at 12:38 ET
Turkish troops and tanks have lined the border but have not crossed into Syria.
Fresh US-led air strikes have tried to repel IS, but Turkey's president warned Kobane was "about to fall".
At least 400 people have died in three weeks of fighting for Kobane, monitors say, and 160,000 Syrians have fled.
If IS captures Kobane, its jihadists will control a long stretch of the Syrian-Turkish border.
'Ground operation' Protests spread across Turkey on Tuesday.
The authorities in the southern province of Mardin declared a curfew in six districts and a group of Turkish nationalists surrounded a building in Istanbul which Kurds had occupied.
A 25-year-old protester was killed in the town of Varto and
another demonstrator taken to hospital after being hit on the head by a
gas canister in Istanbul.
Some protesters accused Turkey's government of collaborating with IS.
Analysis: BBC's Mark Lowen in Istanbul
The crisis in Kobane is reawakening the ghosts of the civil war between Turkey and the Kurds.
While Islamic State tightens its grip on Kobane, Turkey is still holding fire on deploying troops. It remains reluctant to help the Kurdish militia in Syria, which has close links with Kurdish fighters here.
And the Turkish government has again called for the US-led coalition to target the Assad regime as well as IS - and for a no-fly zone to ease the refugee influx into Turkey. But neither goal seems within reach, the US state department reiterating that the air strikes remained focused on IS alone. The Kurds say Turkey's failure to act will lead to the fall of Kobane.
European Parliament protest
The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the biggest Kurdish party
in Turkey, called for members and supporters to take to the streets to
protest against the IS offensive.
The PKK is seen as a terrorist group in Turkey, where decades of armed struggle against the Turkish government for self-determination has left both sides deeply mistrustful of each other.
The cities of Diyarbakir, Ankara, Mersin and Adana have also seen protests, and there have been others across Europe.
Dozens of demonstrators smashed a glass door and entered the European Parliament, where President Martin Schulz promised to discuss the situation with EU leaders.
Hundreds more protesters demonstrated in Berlin and other German cities.
Meanwhile, groups of Kurds reportedly intending to cross the Turkish border to head for Kobane were stopped by border police.
According to one witness, about 300 Kurds were stopped in the border town of Suruc.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan admitted on a visit to a
refugee camp for Syrians that "right now, Kobane is about to fall".
He said: "We had warned the West. We wanted three things: no-fly zone, a secure zone parallel to that, and the training of moderate Syrian rebels."
Mr Erdogan said that "the terror will not be over... unless we co-operate for a ground operation", although he gave no further details.
Last week, Turkey pledged to prevent Kobane from falling to IS and its parliament authorised military operations against militants in Iraq and Syria.
But Kurds have accused Turkey of simply standing by as IS advanced on the Syrian Kurds defending Kobane.
The latest media release from the US military confirmed five air strikes around Kobane, saying they were on Monday and Tuesday, but without specifying exactly when.
It said the attacks had destroyed four IS armed vehicles and an "IS unit", and damaged one IS tank and one armoured vehicle.
However, the BBC's Paul Adams, on the border, says more air strikes could be heard on Tuesday afternoon, bringing the total to eight since 04:00 local time (02:00 GMT) - by far the most sustained coalition action in the area.
He says that as a result, fighting in the city has died down considerably - it was quiet but for occasional crackles of gunfire in the afternoon.
by Nasra Ismail and Biodun Iginla, BBC News
About 100 Kurdish protesters broke into the European Parliament
Kurds
across Turkey have vented their anger at the government's lack of
military support for the defenders of the Syrian border town of Kobane
being attacked by Islamic State militants.
Police used tear gas and water cannon as unrest spread to at least six cities. One protester has been killed.Turkish troops and tanks have lined the border but have not crossed into Syria.
Fresh US-led air strikes have tried to repel IS, but Turkey's president warned Kobane was "about to fall".
At least 400 people have died in three weeks of fighting for Kobane, monitors say, and 160,000 Syrians have fled.
If IS captures Kobane, its jihadists will control a long stretch of the Syrian-Turkish border.
'Ground operation' Protests spread across Turkey on Tuesday.
The authorities in the southern province of Mardin declared a curfew in six districts and a group of Turkish nationalists surrounded a building in Istanbul which Kurds had occupied.
'Ahmed' speaking from Kobane: "Islamic State is trying to reach downtown Kobane"
Some protesters accused Turkey's government of collaborating with IS.
The crisis in Kobane is reawakening the ghosts of the civil war between Turkey and the Kurds.
While Islamic State tightens its grip on Kobane, Turkey is still holding fire on deploying troops. It remains reluctant to help the Kurdish militia in Syria, which has close links with Kurdish fighters here.
And the Turkish government has again called for the US-led coalition to target the Assad regime as well as IS - and for a no-fly zone to ease the refugee influx into Turkey. But neither goal seems within reach, the US state department reiterating that the air strikes remained focused on IS alone. The Kurds say Turkey's failure to act will lead to the fall of Kobane.
The PKK is seen as a terrorist group in Turkey, where decades of armed struggle against the Turkish government for self-determination has left both sides deeply mistrustful of each other.
Dozens of demonstrators smashed a glass door and entered the European Parliament, where President Martin Schulz promised to discuss the situation with EU leaders.
Hundreds more protesters demonstrated in Berlin and other German cities.
Meanwhile, groups of Kurds reportedly intending to cross the Turkish border to head for Kobane were stopped by border police.
According to one witness, about 300 Kurds were stopped in the border town of Suruc.
Protesters attacked police in the Kurdish populated Turkish town of Cizre on the Syrian border
He said: "We had warned the West. We wanted three things: no-fly zone, a secure zone parallel to that, and the training of moderate Syrian rebels."
Mr Erdogan said that "the terror will not be over... unless we co-operate for a ground operation", although he gave no further details.
Last week, Turkey pledged to prevent Kobane from falling to IS and its parliament authorised military operations against militants in Iraq and Syria.
But Kurds have accused Turkey of simply standing by as IS advanced on the Syrian Kurds defending Kobane.
The latest media release from the US military confirmed five air strikes around Kobane, saying they were on Monday and Tuesday, but without specifying exactly when.
It said the attacks had destroyed four IS armed vehicles and an "IS unit", and damaged one IS tank and one armoured vehicle.
However, the BBC's Paul Adams, on the border, says more air strikes could be heard on Tuesday afternoon, bringing the total to eight since 04:00 local time (02:00 GMT) - by far the most sustained coalition action in the area.
He says that as a result, fighting in the city has died down considerably - it was quiet but for occasional crackles of gunfire in the afternoon.
Islamic State
Features and Analysis
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Saving the Syrian town of Kobane requires more cohesion and co-operation from the international community, Jonathan Marcus reports.Too little too late?
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Survival stories
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Need for resolve
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Fatal attraction?
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Chemical claims
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From the shadows
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Short-term gain?
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'Adapt or die'
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Phoney war
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'Prisoners in Mosul'
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Stopping foreign recruits
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Fuelling conflict
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Khorasan threat
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Coalition weaponry
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Is force legal?
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Beaten and starved
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Warning from Raqqa
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Fertile ground
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Reasoned case
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Air power not enough
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Battle in maps
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Who to trust
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IS in 60 seconds
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