U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said on Monday that Turkey will "hold the key" to what happens in Syria, where rebels backed by Ankara toppled the government of Bashar al-Assad earlier this month.

US-backed rebels have appealed to Donald Trump to prevent a Turkish invasion into Syria. In a letter to the president-elect, a senior Kurdish official warned that Ankara appeared poised to launch a military operation across the border.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan tells Al Jazeera the only ‘takeover’ in Syria was ‘the will of the Syrian people’.