The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that tens of people gathered in front of the police station in al-Bab city in northeast Aleppo, which is under the control of Turkish-backed Syrian militia groups.
According to SOHR, the protests started after police forces arrested two civilians for participating in anti-Turkey demonstrations against the targeting of Syrian nationals in several Turkish provinces.
The protesters demanded the release of the two civilians, whose fate remains unknown.
Earlier this month, Hundreds of protesters demonstrated throughout north and northwest Syria in areas controlled by pro-Turkey groups, in light of attacks on Syrian homes and businesses in Turkey’s central Kayseri province, where a Syrian man was accused of sexually harassing a child.
People in the cities of al-Bab, al-Rai, Azaz, and Afrin flooded the streets, blocked the roads, and attacked Turkish institutions and checkpoints in response.
Footage on social media showed demonstrators tearing up and stepping on a Turkish flag, and another video purportedly showed a Turkish soldier being forced to kiss the flag of the Syrian opposition. Another video showed men in uniform bringing down the Turkish flag.
Eight protesters were killed during the clashes with the Turkish forces.
The recent escalations come amid efforts for rapprochement between Ankara and the Syrian government in Damascus.
Through the conflict in Syria, Turkey has supported rebel forces, including those with links to al-Qaeda and other extremist groups. Turkey has also launched repeated incursions into Syrian territory, most notably against Kurds in Afrin in 2018.
Syrians rose up against the Assad regime in March 2011, leading to a full-scale civil war that has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and has left millions more in dire need of humanitarian assistance.
