Lawmaker claims Turkish tanks crossed into Syria to protect tomb http://t.co/wjGlU2TLmH pic.twitter.com/WR730P8oLU
— Today's Zaman (@todayszamancom) February 22, 2015
Turkish tanks entered northern Syria on Sunday to evacuate Suleyman Shah tomb.
The BBC reported:
Hundreds of Turkish troops in armoured vehicles have entered war-torn northern Syria to remove a historic Ottoman tomb and evacuate its beleaguered guards.
The mausoleum was demolished and the remains of Suleyman Shah, who died in the 13th Century, were moved to a site in Syria closer to the Turkish border.
Turkey considers the shrine sovereign territory.
Islamic State (IS) militants in the area had threatened to attack it last year.
The government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which has lost control over much of northern Syria as a result of the country’s civil war, condemned the incursion as “flagrant aggression”.
It said that Turkey had informed its Istanbul consulate about the operation but had not waited for Syria’s consent.
In September 60,000 Syrian Kurds fled their villages near Kobane into Turkey.
Syrian Kurds withdraw from ~60 towns as ISIS advanced.
Turkey did not lift a finger to protect the Kurdish refugees.
Thousands of Kurdish refugees crossed the border into Turkey to avoid the threat of ISIS occupation in Kobane.
Thousands of Kurdish refugees crossed the border into Turkey to flee ISIS. (Walaa Al-Taee)