ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey's parliament was considering a motion Thursday to give the government new powers to launch military incursions into Syria and Iraq and to allow foreign forces to use its territory for possible operations against the Islamic State group.

Turkey still has yet to define what role it intends to play in the U.S.-led coalition against the militants but the motion sets the legal groundwork for any Turkish military involvement or the use of Turkish bases by foreign troops.

Parliament had previously approved operations into Iraq and Syria to attack Kurdish separatists or to thwart threats from the Syrian regime. Thursday's motion would expand those powers to address threats from the Islamic State militants who control a large cross-border swath of Iraq and Syria, in some parts right up to the Turkish border.

The government enjoys a majority in parliament and the bill was expected to pass despite opposition from two parties.

The motion comes as the Islamic State group is attacking the northern Syrian town of Kobani, right across the border from Turkey, despite airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition on its positions. The U.S. has been bombing the Islamic State group across Syria since last week and in neighboring Iraq since early August.

The Islamic militants have been locked in fierce clashes with Kurdish forces since mid-September. Ismet Sheikh Hasan, a senior Kurdish fighter, told The Associated Press on Thursday that the Islamic State group was closing in on Kobani and that his men were preparing for street battles. He said the militants were still advancing despite U.S.-led airstrikes in the area overnight.

There was no immediate confirmation from Washington on the latest airstrikes.

The fighting around Kobani has created one of the single largest exoduses in Syria's civil war, with more than 160,000 people fleeing into Turkey in the last two weeks, adding to the more than a million Syrian refugees who have sought refuge there since Syria's civil war began in 2011.

Turkey had been reluctant to join its NATO allies in a coalition against the Islamic State militants, citing worries about the safety of Turkish hostages held by the group. It reversed its decision after the hostages' release earlier this month.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for the creation of a buffer zone inside Syria as well as a no-fly zone to secure Turkey's borders and stem the flow of refugees. He has also called for military training and equipment for the Syrian opposition fighting the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

"In the struggle against terrorism, we are open and ready for every kind of cooperation. However, Turkey is not a country that will allow itself to be used for temporary solutions," Erdogan said Wednesday.

"An effective struggle against ISIL or other terror organizations will be our priority," Erdogan said. "The immediate removal of the administration in Damascus, Syria's territorial unity and the installation of an administration which embraces all will continue to be our priority. "

The motion cites also cites a potential threat to a revered mausoleum inside Syria that is considered Turkish territory. The tiny plot of land that is a memorial to Suleyman Shah, grandfather of the founder of the Ottoman Empire, is guarded by Turkish troops.