ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday cautioned Western powers over the new government in Syria, while also affirming that they will not abandon Kurdish groups, currently fighting off Turkey and its affiliated factions, in northeast Syria.

Clashes have erupted between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Turkey and its affiliated rebel groups in SDF-controlled areas in northeast Syria since the start of the ex-rebel groups' campaign in late November.

Ankara has said it would press on with military preparations in northern Syria against the SDF until the group is disarmed, claiming that the Kurdish-led force is a security threat to Turkey.

In a speech to French ambassadors gathered at the Elysee Palace on Monday, Macron promised that France would not abandon “freedom fighters, like the Kurds” in Syria.

France is an active member of the global coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS) and maintains troops in northeast Syria’s Kurdish-held areas.

The Turkey-backed groups have been intensely pushing to wrest control of Kobani, and the strategic Tishrin Dam on the Euphrates River from the SDF with the support of Turkish warplanes, but so far, to no avail.

Macron also warned that the West must not be naive in dealing with the new government in Damascus, formed after Islamist-led rebels toppled Bashar al-Assad last month.

"We must regard the regime change in Syria without naivety," he said.

An 11-day sweeping rebel offensive, spearheaded by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, brought a five-decade-long rule of the Assad family to an end on December 8.

Soon after Assad’s ouster, Damascus became a hotspot for diplomats’ visits worldwide, with many Western powers announcing their intent to develop ties with the new Syrian government.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot visited Syria’s capital Damascus alongside his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock on Friday, meeting with Syria’s new de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.