ASSAD GIVES WEAPONS TO PKK – DAVUTOGLU

ISTANBUL, Reuters – 9.8.2012 –  Turkey’s foreign minister accused Syrian President Bashar Assad of arming a Kurdish militant group that has fought the Turkish state for decades, potentially exacerbating a conflict which has killed more than 40,000 people.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told Turkish media while travelling to Myanmar overnight that Assad had given weapons to the PKK, which has established a presence in the Kurdish towns of Kobane and Afrin in Syrian Kurdistan in northern Syria.

“Assad gave them weapons support. Yes – this is not a fantasy. It is true. We have taken necessary measures against this threat,” news websites reported the minister as saying.