Turks Occupying Syria

tomb links to original article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 3 May 2012)

The news agency AP has published a report about the Caber
Fortress and the Tomb of Süleyman Şah in Syria, which are
guarded by Turkish soldiers and which are considered Turkish
territory, based on agreements made first with France and
then with Syria. A Turkish military official stated that 'Our
soldiers are there. There's no problem whatsoever.'

Osman Bahadır Dinçer of the International Strategic Research
Center in Ankara, though, said that 'This is a risk for Turkey.
If some people want to draw Turkey into the (current Syrian)
problem they could be involved in a provocation against these
soldiers.'

The tomb occupies the only Turkish territory outside the
country's borders, located 25 kilometers from the Turkish
border near Karakozak village. The grave of Süleyman Şah,
the grandfather of Osman Bey, the founder of the Ottoman
State, used to be visited by many Turks but the number of
visitors has dwindled of late.