El coronel Shawqi Othman, al capdavant de la Brigada de Saladí, sosté que el PKK tenia el suport d'Hafez al Assat, que pretenia dividir els kurds sirians i pressionar Turquia reforçant un corrent secessionista dins la política kurda.
Colonel Shawqi Othman, who heads the Saladin Brigade, said the PKK was supported by Hafez al Assad, in order to fracture Syria’s Kurds and to pressure Turkey by bolstering a secessionist current within Kurdish politics.