Syrian rebels cut ties with Turkey-backed opposition 'government' amid disputes over crossing

A Syrian opposition armed group operating in northern Syria has ceased cooperation with the Turkish-backed 'Syrian Interim Government' following a meeting with the government's prime minister, Abdul Rahman Mustafa.

The Levant Front, a prominent armed group which is part of the Turkish-backed 'Syrian National Army' controls areas of northern Syria close to the Turkish border, called for the dissolution of the current government and for criminal charges to be brought against Mustafa.

A meeting organised by Turkish intelligence took place on Wednesday between Mustafa and representatives of the Levant Front in the Turkish city of Gaziantep. However, it descended into bitter arguments and recriminations.

A statement from the Levant Front accused Mustafa of "deliberately insulting some revolutionary factions" and "accusing them of sabotage and terrorism".

Mustafa had allegedly accused some of the factions that made up the Levant Front, notably the Ahrar Al-Sharqiya front of criminal activity and "terrorism".

The Levant Front accused him of trying to "ruin its reputation in front of Turkish officials" and said he was doing this "for his own personal gain".

A previous statement from the Syrian Interim Government made no mention of the dispute but said that the meeting had discussed the opening of the Abu Zandain crossing between areas held by the opposition and the Syrian regime.

The statement said that opening the crossing would be a positive development, calling it a "vital humanitarian and economic crossing".

However, the Levant Front has reportedly opposed its opening, amid fears that it could aid a long-discussed normalisation of relations between Turkey and the Syrian regime.

Turkey broke off relations with the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in 2011 after it brutally cracked down on pro-democracy protests.

It hosted the Syrian opposition's "interim government" and supported armed opposition groups, some of which later took part in Turkey's operations against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

However, in recent years Turkey, which hosts 3.5 million Syrian refugees has tried to normalise ties with the Assad regime after it gained the upper hand in the Syrian conflict and regained control of most of the country with crucial backing from Russia and Iran.

The Turkish-backed opposition has been notoriously fractious, with groups formally part of the Turkish-organised 'Syrian National Army' often fighting each other and abusing their power.

Turkey has in recent weeks been putting pressure on Syrian opposition factions not to do anything to obstruct normalisation ties with the Syrian regime.