Protests were held in several predominantly Kurdish cities in Turkey on Thursday against Syria’s interim authorities as fighting in Aleppo intensified around the Kurdish-majority neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyah and residents fled under evacuation orders.

The demonstrations in Diyarbakır, Van and Tunceli followed days of clashes between Syrian government forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a US-backed entity that controls large parts of northeastern Syria.

On Thursday the Syrian army renewed strikes and warned of imminent attacks in Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyah amid mass displacement across Aleppo province as the military moved into targeted operations.

A protest march in Diyarbakır was organized by the provincial branch of the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), Turkey’s main pro-Kurdish party, which shared footage of the crowd on social media.

In Van residents gathered at midday in the city center in solidarity with Syrian Kurds.

Özcan Ateş, the DEM Party provincial co-chair in Tunceli, said the Aleppo operation was taking place amid talks on integrating the SDF into Syria’s national army and warned it could harm Turkey’s own peace efforts with Kurdish militants.

In Şırnak province’s Cizre district, police detained three young people during a protest. Local media reported police intervened as protesters tried to march after delivering a press statement outside the DEM Party district office.

A further protest is planned for Thursday evening in İstanbul, where the Democratic Institutions Platform called for the reading of a public statement at 7 p.m. in Şişhane Square.