ANKARA
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday that Turkey's military operation in Syria to retrieve the remains of Suleyman Shah have spoiled "plots against Turkey by those who were using the tomb and the Turkish soldiers who guarded the territory to blackmail us."
Erdogan, speaking at the presidential palace, stressed that the operation was the result of detailed and months-long planning.
He reiterated that Turkey did not abandon its exclave in Syria with the Operation Shah Firat, which was conducted due to the rising security concerns over escalating clashes between groups, fighting inside the country and threats from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
Suleyman Shah was the grandfather of Osman I, the founder of the Ottoman Empire. His tomb and about 40 Turkish soldiers, who guarded the territory inside war-torn Syria, were relocated in a special operation Saturday.
The operation involved nearly 600 troops and 39 tanks and some 40 soldiers guarding them.
The two-pronged operation began late Saturday and ended on Sunday. It brought the remains of Shah and sacred relics from the original exclave in Karakozak village in Munbic, Syria, some 37 kilometers away from the border, to Turkey. At the same time, Turkey also secured another area in Syria, Ashme, close to the border with Turkey to act as Shah’s temporary burial place.
The Turkish president also condemned "some circles inside the country who criticized the Turkish state for carrying out the operation."
"It is an unfortunate thing that the (Turkish) opposition parties in particular are going along with the Assad regime," Erdogan said, adding that those who are against the operation are indifferent towards Turkey protecting its people's interests.
He also paid condolences for the accidental death of a Turkish soldier during the operation.
Erdogan announced that the Council of Ministers, Turkey's weekly cabinet meeting chaired by the prime minister, will gather at the presidential palace on March 9, 2015. This will be the second such gathering at the presidential palace after the first one held on Jan. 19.
