Turkey Closes Key Border Crossing After Days Of Syria-Related Violent Protests

Turkey closed the Bab al-Hawa crossing on Syria's northern border amid clashes between occupying Turkish forces and armed demonstrators, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported Tuesday.

Turkey announced the closure of the crossing to travelers, patients, commercial trucks, and humanitarian aid convoys until further notice without specifying a date for its reopening.

The crossing is the most important between Turkey and northern Syria, where Turkish forces established a buffer zone to prevent the presence of US-backed Kurdish forces near the Turkey border.

The Bab al-Hawa crossing is also the only artery for the entry of UN aid trucks and the exit of patients to receive treatment in Turkish hospitals.

Turkey additionally closed the Bab al-Salam, Al-Rai, and Jarablus border crossings as protests erupted against the Turkish presence in northern Syria following mob attacks on Syrian refugees in central Turkey.

Sunday's mob attacks on Syrian businesses and property in the central Turkish town of Kayseri came amid rumors that a Syrian refugee man had sexually abused his five-year-old relative. Local police arrested 67 people participating in the attacks, in which nationalist Turks burned businesses, homes, and cars.

In response to the attacks on Syrian refugees in Turkey, angry demonstrations swept through Syria's Idlib governorate on Monday, which is controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the former Al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria.

The protests also spread to areas of the Aleppo countryside controlled by the Syrian National Army (SNA), a Turkish-backed militant group made up of former Free Syrian Army (FSA) militants.

On Monday, four people were killed in clashes between protestors and Turkish forces in Afrin and Jarablus, while 20 more were injured. "Four people were killed in exchanges of fire between protesters and guards stationed at Turkish positions," the SOHR said.

The violence and demonstrations in northern Syria come days after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he did not rule out a possible meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to help restore bilateral relations between their two countries.

Turkey severed ties with Syria after the war erupted in 2011. At that time, it supported the FSA and other extremist groups seeking to topple Assad's government.

Assad has demanded that Turkey remove its forces occupying Syrian land before relations can be restored.