  We discuss a coupled channel analysis of the $\eta\pi$ and $\eta'\pi$ systems
produced in $\pi^-p$ interactions at 18 GeV/$c$. We show that known $Q\bar Q$
resonances, together with residual soft meson-meson rescattering, saturate the
spectra including the exotic $J^{PC}=1^{-+}$ channel. A possibility of a narrow
exotic resonance at a mass near 1.6 GeV/$c^2$ cannot, however, be ruled out.
