According to local eyewitness reports that are still unconfirmed, Turkey may be in the process of moving military vehicles into Syria in an attempt to guard the Tomb of Suleyman Shah, a sovereign Turkish exclave located in the Syrian state of Aleppo.
The Tomb of Suleyman Shah is a sovereign exclave of Turkey situated in Aleppo Governorate, Syria. Tourists visit this territory. It is the burial place of Suleyman Shah, the grandfather of Osman I, the founder of the Ottoman Empire. He is believed to have drowned in the Euphrates river in modern-day Syria and an Ottoman tomb in or near Qal’at Ja’bar has been associated with Suleyman Shah.
In accordance with Article 9 of the Treaty of Ankara signed between France and Turkey in 1921, the tomb “shall remain, with its appurtenances, the property of Turkey, who may appoint guardians for it and may hoist the Turkish flag there”.The treaty is silent in regard to the land beneath the tomb.
In 1973, the location of the tomb was flooded when the Tabqa Dam created Lake Assad. At that time, the legal exclave and the tomb was moved to a new location some 80 km north of Qal’at Ja’bar, but also on the Euphrates riverside, not far from the town of Sarrin and located a mere 35 km from the Turkish border.
To date, Turkey maintains a small military presence as an honour guard at the site and has continued to do so throughout the Syrian Civil War.
