The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said that seven protesters were killed by Turkish forces in the northern Syrian city of Afrin and one in Jarabulus.
“The death toll is expected to rise as there are more than 20 wounded people,” the monitor said.
Hundreds of protesters demonstrated throughout rebel-held north and northwest Syria in light of the recent 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 towns and cities of al-Bab, al-Rai, Azaz, and Afrin flooded the streets, blocked the roads, and attacked Turkish institutions 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.
On Monday, the Turkish-backed Syrian opposition released a statement calling on protesters “to practice restraint” and “not attack Turkish institutions and checkpoints,” while commending an earlier statement by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan regarding anti-Syrian riots in Turkey.
“One of the causes of the unfortunate events caused by a small group in Kayseri yesterday is the opposition's toxic rhetoric. Regardless of who they are, it is unacceptable to burn people's homes, commit vandalism and set the streets on fire,” Erdogan said on Monday during a party meeting in Ankara.
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 need of dire humanitarian assistance.