There is a considerable Syrian Turkmen presence in the area who have strong cultural and historical ties with Turkey.
[1][2] Bayirbucak's most distinctive mountain is Turkmen Mountain (Arabic: جبل تركمان; Jabal Turkman,[3] Turkish: Türkmen Dağı) Bayirbucak is a Turkish exonym, and not the official name for the region, which is Al-Rabiaa subdistrict.
One Russian pilot was killed by Turkmen forces under the command of Alparslan Çelik.
[5][6][7] Heavy Russian aerial bombardments during the 2015–16 Latakia offensive resulted in a very difficult situation in the Bayirbucak Turkmen regions, causing almost all Syrian Turkmens to flee the region to Turkey.
The Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad began a policy of settling Alawites into the houses of Turkmen civilians who had fled the region.