Clashes in Aleppo Spark Kurdish Protests, Fears of Wider Conflict in Syria

Violence in Aleppo has intensified divisions in Syria, where President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s bid to unify the country after 14 years of war faces resistance from Kurdish forces wary of his Islamist-led government.
Five days of fighting left at least 23 dead, according to Syria’s health ministry, and forced more than 150,000 people to flee two Kurdish-run pockets of the city. The last Kurdish fighters reportedly left Aleppo early on January 11.
On Tuesday, several thousand Syrian Kurds protested in Qamishli, carrying banners featuring fallen fighters and denouncing Sharaa and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan as “killers of the Kurdish people.” Turkey accuses the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which run a semi-autonomous zone in northeast Syria, of links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party.
Protesters warned that the bloodshed has deepened Kurdish mistrust of Sharaa’s promises. Syrian authorities have declared parts of eastern Aleppo a “closed military zone” and ordered armed forces to withdraw further east.
Residents fear the violence could escalate into broader conflict, recalling past sectarian killings in Syria’s Alawite and Druze communities.