Malatya to Syrian border?

HI, I posted this on the Turkey site but maybe this is a better place for it. I will be going through Turkey from Iran in October on my way to Syria, and intend to get a Syrian visa at the border. At the moment I am thinking of catching a Teheran-Istanbul or Tehran-Damascus train to Malatya in Turkey, and from there getting a bus to the border (probably at Kilis). Or I could get off the train closer to the border with Syria at Fevzipasa or Islahiye (which are on the route of the Teheran-Damascus train). Is my plan to stop in Malatya and proceed from there by bus to the border a good one? How many hours by bus from Malatya to the border? Or is there a better way of doing this? I wonder if anyone else has been in the same situation. I would be very grateful for any advice.
(Can't get a Syrian visa in NZ because no embassy here, and there may not be time to get one at the border on the train, which has to keep to its schedule. That's why I thought of stopping at a major city short of the border, and going on to the border in the early morning by bus, and carrying on to Alleppo in the same day.)
Vaughan

Did you get an answer in Turkey branch or do you still need info?