Turkey says it will provide military support to Syria against Kurdish forces in Aleppo if requested, as clashes escalate and threaten a key integration deal.
ANKARA: Turkey’s military is prepared to support Syria in its fight against Kurdish fighters in Aleppo if Damascus requests assistance.
A defence ministry official stated on Thursday that Turkey is closely monitoring developments in northern Syria.
“Turkey supports Syria’s fight against terrorist organisations,” the official told reporters.
“Should Syria request assistance, Turkey will provide the necessary support,” he added.
The offer echoes Ankara’s longstanding position to extend military aid to its allies in Damascus’s new Islamist government.
Turkey views the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Defence Forces (SDF) as an extension of the banned PKK militant group.
It considers the SDF a major threat along its southern border.
Ankara has repeatedly pushed for implementation of a March 2025 integration deal.
The agreement would see the Kurds’ semi-autonomous administration and military absorbed into the Syrian state apparatus.
The Kurds are pushing for decentralised rule, an idea rejected by Syria’s new authorities.
This blockage has caused tensions that have occasionally erupted into clashes.
Deadly fighting erupted this week after the two sides failed to meet a year-end merger deadline.
On Wednesday, the Syrian military began shelling neighbourhoods in Aleppo.
It ordered all Kurdish fighters to leave the area following clashes that forced thousands of civilians to flee.
Parliamentary speaker Numan Kurtulmus said Turkey wants to help end the violence.
“Our aim is to bring an immediate end to the kind of clashes currently seen in Aleppo,” he told reporters.
He said Turkey is ready to provide all necessary support to establish a pluralistic, democratic regime in Syria.
Kurtulmus also warned against any involvement by Israel in the dispute.
He echoed frequent Turkish concerns that Israel could exploit the unrest for its own interests.
Israel on Thursday denounced Damascus’s operation against Kurds in Aleppo.
It described the action as “grave and dangerous” for Syria’s minorities.
“Let me be very clear: Israel does not love the Sunni Arabs in Syria, nor does Israel love the Kurds of Syria,” Kurtulmus said.
He accused some regional countries of aiming to fragment the region along ethnic and sectarian lines.
