Operation Shah Euphrates
Part of Foreign Involvement in the Syrian Civil War, Turkey–ISIL conflict and Turkish military intervention in Syria
View of the Tomb of Suleyman Shah
Location
Aleppo, Syria

36°N 38°E / 36°N 38°E / 36; 38
Commanded byTurkey Gen. Necdet Özel
Date22 February 2015
Executed by Turkey
People's Protection Units[1]
Outcome
  • Tomb of Süleyman Shah was transferred
  • Turkish soldiers were evacuated
Casualties1 soldier (non-combat)
The tomb in 1921.

Operation Shah Euphrates (Turkish: Şah Fırat Operasyonu) was an operation by the Turkish military to relocate the tomb of Suleyman Shah in Syria conducted on 21/22 February 2015. The tomb, which was positioned inside Turkey's only foreign enclave,[2] had been surrounded by self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) forces for over 4 months.[3] Due to the presence of ISIS, the exclaves garrison was recently raised from eleven Turkish soldiers to thirty eight.[4]

Operation

On the night of 21–22 February 2015, a Turkish military convoy including 600 Turkish troops,[5] tanks and other armored vehicles numbering about 100 entered Syria to evacuate the tomb's 38 guards and relocate the remains.[6] The operation was conducted through the border crossing of Kobani.[4] According to Hasip Kaplan of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), the Kurdish People's Defense Units (YPG) shall have been supporting the rescue.[6]

Reactions

Despite Interior Minister Efkan Ala was denying reports that the Turkish army had to flee from ISIS militants[6] the party leaders of the Republican People's Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and Devlet Bahçeli both condemned the fact that Turkish soldiers retreated from the tomb.[6] The retreat from an exclave from Turkish sovereign territory was seen as a defeat.[4] The tomb complex was destroyed to prevent its use by ISIS.[6]

New location

The tomb is now located in Turkish-controlled territory 200 meters inside Syria, 22 km (14 mi) west of Kobani and 5 km (3.1 mi) east of the Euphrates, less than 2 km (1.2 mi) southeast of the Turkish village of Esmesi (Esmeler or Esme or Eshme) that is in southernmost Birecik District. Prime Minister of Turkey at the time, Ahmet Davutoğlu said that later a new tomb will be constructed in Syrian territory.

References

  1. ↑ Taştekin, Fehim; Muslim, Salih (November 27, 2016), Why Turkey issued arrest warrant for this Kurdish leader, archived from the original on November 28, 2016
  2. ↑ Akkoc, Raziye. "Who is Suleyman Shah and why is his tomb so important?". Telegraph. Retrieved 2020-05-28.
  3. ↑ Kiford, Chris (2 March 2015). "Operation Shah Euphrates -- a short military analysis". Today's Zarman. Archived from the original on 26 March 2015. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 Aktar, Cengiz. "The spectre of Suleyman Shah". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2021-12-09.
  5. ↑ "Turkey Sends Troops into Syria to Retrieve Ottoman Tomb, Guards • the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights". 23 February 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Letsch, Constanze (2015-02-22). "Turkish troops enter Syria to rescue soldiers guarding tomb". The Guardian. Retrieved 2021-12-09.
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