Turkish Military Enters Syria To Evacuate Soldiers Guarding Tomb: Report

Turkey’s prime minister says his country has evacuated troops guarding an Ottoman tomb in Syria.

On Twitter, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu says the tomb of Suleyman Shah, the grandfather of Osman I, founder of the Ottoman Empire, also was moved into Turkey.

Kobani was the focus of U.S. airstrikes as Kurdish forces battled militants of the Islamic State group, who hold about a third of Iraq and neighboring Syria in their self-declared caliphate. Turkey stayed out of the battle at the time, which saw Kurds ultimately push out the extremists.

Some 40 Turkish tombs guard the tomb of Suleyman Shah, the grandfather of Osman I, founder of the Ottoman Empire. The tomb, some 35 kilometers (22 miles) from Turkey on the banks of the Euphrates River, sits in Syria’s embattled Aleppo province and is considered Turkish territory.

The Huffington Post