Turkey Denies Sending Troops To Confront ISIL In Syria

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated on Wednesday that Turkey has sent aid to the Tomb of Süleyman Şah in Syria, the burial place of the grandfather of Osman I, founder of the Ottoman Empire, but has not sent troops to confront the al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Syria.

In recent months, reports have emerged that ISIL forces in Syria are trying to gain control of the area around the Tomb of Süleyman Şah. Turkey said it would retaliate appropriately in the event of an attack on the tomb in Syria, regardless of the attacker's allegiances.

Touching upon reports claiming that the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) had sent a large number of armored vehicles to the Tomb of Süleyman Şah for deployment near ISIL bases, Erdoğan stated: “Right now, ISIL is not the issue. The job of our convoy there is to transfer aid to the Tomb of Süleyman Şah.”

According to reports, six tanks and 12 armored vehicles have been deployed within 200 meters of ISIL bases, and there are also claims that ISIL has started to send reinforcements to the area.

Diplomatic sources have told Today's Zaman that they have no information on the matter; however, they added that the convoy could be acting as reinforcements to protect the tomb.

According to press reports, ISIL forces are about one kilometer from the tomb. Turkey is following the developments in Syria with great concern. There is a security crisis due to a lack of power and authority in the area, with radical groups increasing their terrorist activities in northern Syria.

Turkey previously stated that its armed forces are maintaining their vigilance along the Syrian border and have been ready for any contingencies since the start of the Syrian civil war.

In a leaked voice recording last month, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, National Intelligence Organization (MİT) head Hakan Fidan, Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioğlu and Deputy Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaşar Güler can allegedly be heard discussing a possible intervention in Syria and the potential global reaction.

Their conversation appears to center on a possible operation to secure the Tomb of Süleyman Şah, which is in an area of northern Syria largely controlled by militant Islamists.

Ankara regards the tomb as sovereign Turkish territory under a treaty signed with France in 1921, when Syria was under French rule. About two dozen Turkish special forces soldiers guard the tomb permanently. (Cihan/Today's Zaman)

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TURKEY, ANKARA, 23 APR 2014

VAR of Erdoğan's statements

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