The United Nations Special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, is calling for urgent international action to stop the Islamic State from taking over the town of Kobane on Syria's border with Turkey.
The statement comes as the Islamic State continues its advance on the town, despite stiff resistance from Kurdish fighters and US airstrikes.
"The world has seen with its own eyes the images of what happens when a city in Syria or in Iraq is overtaken by the terrorist group called ISIS or Daesh: massacres, humanitarian tragedies, rapes, horrific violence."
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the town is close to being lost, saying US-led air strikes are not enough.
But Erdogan has stopped short of saying he will send Turkish troops into Kobane.
Thousands of Turkish Kurds have marched to the Syrian border, calling on the Turkish government to protect Syrian Kurds in the area.
One person has been killed and dozens of others injured during clashes with police, as demonstrations have spread across Turkey.
The battles around the Syrian-Turkish border in Syria have forced some 160-thousand ethnic Kurds in the region to flee into neighboring Turkey.
Turkish police intervene protesters taking streets across Turkey to hold unauthorized demonstrations against the advance of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants toward central Kobane, in Istanbul, Turkey, October 7, 2014.
