CALM returned to Aleppo yesterday after a brief violent clash between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the jihadist regime’s military on Monday.

At least one person was killed — according to state media two, but tallies given by the SDF and the government didn’t match — and 15 wounded in fighting that erupted as Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan visited Damascus.

Within a few hours the Syrian defence ministry and the SDF ordered their troops to stop firing. Both sides accused each other of starting the exchange.

It was unclear if the visit prompted the violence. Turkey was the main international sponsor of the jihadist regime in Idlib during Syria’s civil war, whose ruling Hayat Tahrir al-Sham alliance of insurgent armies swept aside the Bashar al-Assad Syrian government a year ago. But it has long fought Kurdish nationalist forces both inside and outside Turkey, including Syria’s SDF, which is in the process of negotiating integration into the Syrian military.

Mr Fidan’s talks in Damascus involved the SDF integration process, showing Ankara’s ongoing interest in the shape of the new Syrian government. “Syria’s stability means Turkey’s stability,” he said. Turkey opposes SDF ambitions to be incorporated into the Syrian army as a cohesive unit, urging its dissolution and the recruitment of its troops as individuals.

Other topics included suppression of the Islamic State terrorist group and Israel’s expanding occupation of southern Syria.

He was accompanied by Turkish Defence Minister Yasar Guler and intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin, suggesting a level of state-to-state collaboration akin to the Assad government’s military and security partnership with Iran.