TURKEY: Syrian opposition wary about full control of border gates

Record ID: 276395

  • Title: TURKEY: Syrian opposition wary about full control of border gates
  • Date: 21st July 2012
  • Summary: BOYNUYOGUN, TURKEY (JULY 21, 2012) (REUTERS) VIEW OF BOYNUYOGUN CAMP VARIOUS OF MAKESHIFT TENTS CAR CARRYING PRESIDENT OF SYRIAN NATIONAL COUNCIL ABDULBASET SIEDA ENTERING CAMP HATAY, TURKEY (JULY 21, 2012) (REUTERS) PRESIDENT OF SYRIAN NATIONAL COUNCIL ABDULBASET SIEDA HOLDING A NEWS CONFERENCE CAMERAMEN FILMING (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PRESIDENT OF SYRIAN NATIONAL COUNCIL
  • Embargoed: 5th August 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: Conflict,International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAAHF3ZZL3BSOZK3S3SCKY6CYM
  • Story Text: The head of the opposition Syrian National Council Abdulbaset Sieda said on Saturday (July 21) it was too soon to say if rebels have full control of border gates that have been seized few days ago.
    "The issue of of complete control over the border crossing requires more investigation, more effort until the big picture becomes clear," Sieda told a news conference in southern province of Hatay after visiting refugee camps.
    Rebels captured three border crossings with Iraq and Turkey, and on Saturday an Iraqi security source said gunmen appeared to be taking over a fourth at Yarubiyah in Syria's Kurdish northeast.
    Sieda said they are looking into the possibility of creating a humanitarian corridor from the border gates seized by rebels.

    "We are discussing these issues. We will discuss with Syrian National Council and also with the Free Syrian Army and the Turkish government as the Turkish government is responsible for this issue. This decision must be taken as a whole in order to control the situation in the best way," he said.
    Assad, battling a 16-month uprising against his family's four decades of autocratic rule, has not spoken in public since the assassinations, and failed to attend funeral ceremonies for his brother-in-law and two other slain officials on Friday (July 20).
    A bloody crackdown on what began as a peaceful revolt has increasingly become an armed conflict between an establishment dominated by Assad's Alawite minority, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam, and rebels drawn largely from the Sunni majority.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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