Deadly clashes erupted this week between Syrian government forces and the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Defence Forces (SDF) after the two sides failed to reach a year-end deadline to merge the Kurdish fighters into the main Damascus military.

"Turkey supports Syria's fight against terrorist organisations," the official told reporters, saying Ankara was "closely monitoring" developments in the north.

"Should Syria request assistance, Turkey will provide the necessary support," he said, echoing a long-standing offer by Ankara to extend military support to its allies in Damascus's new Islamist government.

Turkey has long been hostile to the Kurdish SDF that controls swathes of northeastern Syria, seeing it as an extension of the banned Kurdish militant group PKK, seeing it as a major threat along its southern border.

It has repeatedly pushed for implementation of a March 2025 deal under which the Kurds' semi-autonomous administration and military would be integrated into the Syrian military and security apparatus.

The Kurds are pushing for decentralised rule, an idea which Syria's new authorities have rejected, blocking the deal's implementation causing tensions that have occasionally erupted into clashes.

On Wednesday, the Syrian military began shelling two neighbourhoods in Aleppo after ordering all Kurdish fighters to leave the area following clashes that forced thousands of civilians to flee.

Parliamentary speaker Numan Kurtulmus said Turkey wanted to help end the clashes.

"Our aim is to bring an immediate end to the kind of clashes currently seen in Aleppo... and for a truly pluralistic, democratic regime that meets the needs of Syria's people to be established rapidly. Turkey is ready to provide all necessary support for this," he told reporters.

He also warned against any involvement by Israel in the ongoing dispute between Damascus and the SDF, echoing frequent concerns expressed by Turkish officials that Israel could exploit the unrest to further its own interests.

Israel on Thursday denounced Damascus's operation "against the Kurdish minority in Aleppo", describing it as "grave and dangerous" for Syria's minorities, hiking concern it could weigh.

"Let me be very clear: Israel does not love the Sunni Arabs in Syria, nor does Israel love the Kurds of Syria," Kurtulmus said.

"We know the fundamental aim of some countries in the region is to fragment and divide this region further, to turn people against each other on ethnic, religious, and sectarian grounds and even turn them into enemies."