The Turkish government has dismissed accusations of remaining silent as Damascus faces allegations of killing hundreds of Alawite civilians amid escalating violence in Syria, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported on Monday.
Ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) spokesperson Ömer Çelik at a news conference in Ankara on Monday responded to criticism that Ankara has failed to condemn the killings, calling such claims “not just political ignorance, but political cruelty and provocation.”
He said the government was closely monitoring the situation in Syria’s Latakia and Tartus regions, where clashes have intensified between government forces and pro-Assad groups, reportedly leading to mass civilian casualties.
“The latest attack in Latakia targeting Syrian security forces is a terrorist assault against Syria’s unity and stability,” Çelik said, arguing that while concerns about civilian casualties were understandable, what he described as “sectarian narratives” were not.
“Attempts to distort the situation with sectarian interpretations are misleading. … We have always defended Syria’s national unity and territorial integrity. … Syria belongs to all Syrians,” he said.
Çelik said Turkey’s regional policy is based on “brotherhood among all ethnic and sectarian groups,” adding that the AKP government does not legitimize or accept any attacks on civilians, whether Sunni or Alawite.
Meanwhile, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who spoke following a cabinet meeting on Monday evening, said his government is making the necessary suggestions to the Syrian authorities to “quickly leave the tense atmosphere behind.”
“We welcome President [Ahmed] al-Sharaa’s moderate and calming decisions and messages that those who violate the law will be punished. Mr. Sharaa follows an inclusive policy without falling into revanchism. We sincerely hope that Syria will soon attain the permanent peace and tranquility it longs for,” Erdoğan said.
Alevi organizations hold protests
The accusations against Erdoğan and his government come amid protests by Alevi organizations, prominent individuals and opposition politicians over the situation in northwestern Syria, where reports of executions, kidnappings and torture have emerged from areas controlled by Turkish-backed Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) forces.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Monday that the security forces and allied groups had killed 1,068 civilians since Thursday, the vast majority Alawites, in the worst wave of violence since strongman Bashar al-Assad was toppled in December. The death toll has not been independently verified but it believed to be the worst since the fall of the Assad regime.
A group of representatives from Alevi organizations who planned to hold a press conference in front of the Syrian Consulate in İstanbul’s Şişli district but were met with a ban on demonstrations by local authorities gathered at Maçka Democracy Park.
Sevim Yalıncakoğlu of the Yalıncak Sultan Alevi Culture Association read out a statement accusing the Turkish-backed government of perpetrating atrocities against Alawite communities in Syria, including “a systematic and deliberate massacre” of them.
“Since the regime change on December 8, 2024, there has been a systematic and deliberate massacre of Alawites, with villages under siege and civilians facing death threats. Kidnapped women are threatened with rape and young people are tortured and disappeared,” Yalıncakoğlu declared, further labeling the violence as “genocide.”
A group of prominent individuals in Turkey, including well-known musician Cahit Berkay and actor Barış Atay, who is also the vice chair of the Workers’ Party of Turkey (TİP), expressed grave concern over the rising violence against Alawites in Syria in a joint statement titled “Stop the Alawite Massacre in Syria,” the Anka news agency reported.
“We call on our entire community to unite against this alarming course of events and urge authorities to take action to stop this massacre,” the statement said.
The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) sent a delegation to inspect the situation in Hatay’s Yayladağ district, near the Syrian border, where they met with local citizens and held a press conference regarding the violence in Syria.
CHP group deputy chairman Ali Mahir Başarır condemned the ongoing violence in Latakia, saying, “Massacres have no sectarian identity, whether Alevi or Sunni. Death doesn’t have a sect, it’s an act of cruelty.”
Başarır urged the Turkish government to take immediate action to help stop the atrocities.
İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, the main opposition’s possible candidate for the presidency, voiced strong opposition to the ongoing violence in Syria during a speech in southern Adana province on Monday, Anka also reported.
He called for urgent international action to bring about peace and stability in the region while urging the Turkish government to play an active role in addressing the situation.
Meanwhile, 23 lawmakers from the party, led by Şanlıurfa MP Mahmut Tanal, submitted a motion to the Turkish Parliament calling for an investigation into the alleged Alawite massacre in the Hama, Homs, Latakia and Tartus regions of Syria. The motion also requested an on-site inspection by the parliament’s Human Rights Committee as part of a demand for the Turkish government to intensify its diplomatic efforts to end the violence.
According to a report by the Evrensel daily, demonstrations were also held in the cities of İzmir, Ordu, Edremit and Muğla, with participants condemning the violence and calling on both domestic and international authorities to intervene and stop the killings. Activists criticized the Turkish government’s alleged complicity in the atrocities, urging stronger diplomatic efforts to end the violence against the Alawite community.