PKK and al-Qaeda control Syrian-Turkish border, Al-Assad says

Nearly 75 percent of the Syrian-Turkish border is controlled by al-Qaeda, while the rest is controlled by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told a delegation from Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) on March 7, Hurriyet Daily News reported.

The three-member group, which consisted of deputy leader Şafak Pavey and two lawmakers from the neighboring Hatay province, Hasan Akgöl and Mevlut Dudu, was in Syria following an invitation from al-Assad.

“Almost 75 percent of the Syrian border with Turkey is under the control of al-Qeada, while 25 percent is controlled by the PKK,” al-Assad told the group, according to the report. “We were not involved in the attack at the Cilvegözü border point, because we are not present on that border. Al-Qaeda has total control of it,” he added.