Syria decries Turkish incursion as ‘flagrant aggression’

DAMASCUS // Syria has condemned an incursion by Turkish troops to evacuate an historic tomb and the soldiers guarding it as a “flagrant aggression”.

Nearly 600 troops and 100 tanks and armoured personnel carriers entered deep into Syria on Sunday to evacuate nearly 40 Turkish soldiers guarding a historic tomb who were trapped in territory controlled by ISIL militants.

The Damascus government no longer controls the area but is at loggerheads with Ankara over the Syria conflict.

“Turkey is not satisfied with merely giving all kinds of support to its puppets Daesh [ISIL], the Al Nusra Front [Al Qaeda affiliate] and other terrorist groups” said the foreign ministry on Sunday. “It even carried out ... a flagrant aggression against Syrian territory.”

Tukey prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the mission was a success, with the soldiers returning safely home and bringing back the tomb containing the remains of Suleyman Shah, grandfather of the Ottoman empire’s founder, Osman I. One soldier died in an accident during the nine-hour long incursion, the premier said.

He also made the surprise announcement that the Turkish troops had seized control of a new area inside Syria close to the Turkish border where the tomb will be relocated within days.

Syria’s foreign ministry said its consulate in Istanbul had been informed by Ankara on Saturday evening of its plans to mount the operation, “but as usual [Turkey] did not wait for Syria’s consent”.

It said the operation, in territory controlled by ISIL, was proof of “the close ties between the Turkish government and the terrorists”.

Separately, the main opposition Syrian National Coalition, which is strongly backed by Ankara, said it had been told in advance of the incursion.

“The Turkish government officially informed the coalition that its troops would enter Syrian territory,” it said.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan congratulated the armed forces on the operation and confirmed that the tomb would be relocated in the Syrian district of Eshme, just 200 metres from the Turkish border.

Turkish television showed pictures of troops planting the Turkish flag at the new location of the tomb in the night-time operation.

The mausoleum complex of Suleyman Shah on the Euphrates River is considered sovereign Turkish territory under a 1920s treaty. It carries huge symbolic importance to Turks as a link to their pre-Ottoman past. The tomb had for years been guarded largely by conscripts but in March 2014 Turkey reportedly sent several dozen special forces to guard it.

A soldier was killed in an accident during the operation to relieve the guards at the tomb, the Turkish army said. It said the soldier lost his life in the “initial stage” of the operation but emphasised there were no clashes during the mission.

The army said the decision to evacuate the guards and relocate the tomb was taken because of the worsening security situation in the area, part of Syria’s Aleppo province that is under the control of ISIL who have captured swathes of Iraq and Syria.

The operation to relieve the soldiers guarding the tomb took place as Turkey comes under pressure from its Western allies to play a greater role in the fight against the ISIL group.

The United States and Turkey on Thursday signed a deal to train and equip thousands of moderate Syrian rebel forces opposing Mr Assad after several weeks of talks.

* Agence France-Presse