Turkey monitors the Syrian scene

Turkey intends to exercise significant guardianship over Syria's fragmented political and social landscape through a ‘protective role over all ethnic groups and minorities on Syrian territory despite the fact that it is a nation perceived to be part of the existing tensions, especially in the wake of the fall of Bashar Al-Assad's regime and its persecution of Kurdish militants.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told a press conference: ‘Whether you are a majority or a minority in Syria, whoever you are, Nusayris, Alevis, Yazidis, Christians, anyone, Turkey is your protector and guardian as it is for everyone else in this new period’. 

Turkey's foreign minister said on Thursday that Ankara is ready to protect all ‘aggrieved groups’ in Syria.

‘Whether majority or minority in Syria, whoever they are, Nusayris, Alevis, Yazidis, Christians, anyone, Turkey is their protector and guardian as it is for everyone else in this new period,’ Hakan Fidan said during a joint press conference he held in Ankara with his Belgian counterpart, Bernard Quintin.

He said that during the Assad regime's oppression, millions of Sunni Arabs were displaced, as well as ethnic Turks, and had to seek refuge in other countries.

Fidan highlighted Syria's role during Bashar Al-Assad's rule as host to three million Syrian refugees and his intention now to ensure the best conditions for their return to their countries of origin. 

‘We are making every effort to ensure that they are not harmed in Syria. The new Syrian leadership is also very sensitive to this issue,’ the Turkish top diplomat added.

He also reiterated Ankara's plans to provide support to Syria by backing its security, territorial integrity and reconstruction efforts.

‘We hope and expect that the people of Syria will quickly build their future,’ Fidan stressed.

In a potentially controversial suggestion, Fidan said all foreign jihadists should be sent back to their home countries and that the new Syrian administration should take over Islamic State (ISIS) camps and prisons.

He added that Ankara is ready to support the process by securing the camps and prisons, a role assumed so far by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), against which the Turkish-backed groups are engaged in ongoing clashes.

At least 24 fighters, mostly from Turkish-backed groups, were killed in clashes with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the northern district of Manbij.

The violence killed 23 Turkish-backed fighters and one member of the SDF-affiliated Manbij Military Council, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Britain-based Observatory said the latest bout of fighting was sparked by attacks by Ankara-backed fighters in two towns south of Manbij.

Large swathes of northern Syria are controlled by a Kurdish-led administration whose de facto army, the US-backed SDF, led the fight that helped drive the Islamic State group (ISIS) from its last territory in Syria in 2019. 

Turkey accuses the SDF's main component, the People's Protection Units (YPG), of being affiliated with the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which both Washington and Ankara blacklist as a terrorist group.

Fighting has broken out around the Arab-majority town of Manbij, which is controlled by the Manbij Military Council, a group of local fighters operating under the SDF.

According to the Observatory, ‘fighting continued south and east of Manbij as Turkish forces shelled the area with drones and heavy artillery’.

The SDF said it repelled attacks by Turkish-backed groups south and east of Manbij.

‘This morning, with the support of five Turkish drones, tanks and modern armoured vehicles, mercenary groups launched violent attacks’ on several villages in the Manbij area, the SDF said in a statement.

‘Our fighters managed to repel all attacks, killing dozens of mercenaries and destroying six armoured vehicles, including a tank.’

Turkey has mounted multiple operations against the SDF since 2016, and Ankara-backed groups have captured several Kurdish-held towns in northern Syria in recent weeks.

Fighting has continued since rebels led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) overthrew ruler Bashar al-Assad on 8 December.