Turkish forces entered Syrian territories and advanced to the outskirts of Aleppo Saturday to transport the buried remains of the founder of the Ottoman Empire, Suleyman Shah.
(AFP PHOTO/STR)
The forces consisted of 39 tanks, 57 armoured personnel carriers, 100 vehicles and 572 soldiers, according to Turkish state run news agency Anadolu.
The forces mission was to transport the remains of Suleyman Shah from his tomb in Aleppo to neighbouring Ashma village, on which the forces planted Turkish flag and claimed authority, according to Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu’s statements.
The tomb, which is a Turkish sovereign exclave, in accordance with Article 9 of the Treaty of Ankara signed between France and Turkey in 1921, was threatened in March 2014 by the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) as the radical militant organisation demanded that Turkey lowers its flag and withdraws troops guarding the site.
A soldier was killed in the operation, as far as the international coalition to combat ISIS knows, although it didn’t see clashes, according to statements from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
After the Turkish forces transported the remains, they destroyed all the buildings in the site to “prevent abuse of the site”, according to Davutoglu’s statements.
