Ancient Tomb Helps Push Turkey To Authorize Force Against Islamic State

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Interesting article by National Georgraphic

Ancient Tomb Helps Push Turkey to Authorize Force Against Islamic State
Threat to Suleyman Shah's tomb helps trigger Turkey's response to the jihadist group.

Turkish soldiers stand guard at the revered tomb of Suleyman Shah, northeast of Aleppo, Syria.

PHOTOGRAPH BY AP

Roff Smith

for National Geographic

PUBLISHED OCTOBER 3, 2014

Had it not been for Syria's brutal civil war, the tomb of Suleyman Shah would have likely remained a geographical footnote. But this week the 700-year-old tomb became a flashpoint that helped prod Turkey into entering the battle against the Islamic State (IS; also called ISIS or ISIL).

For centuries the tomb has stood beside the banks of the Euphrates, the river where Suleyman is presumed to have drowned in 1236 while on campaign in what is now Syria.

As the grandfather of Osman I, founder of the Ottoman Empire, his tomb and its accompanying shrine are revered historical sites for the Turks.

One of the clauses in the 1921 Treaty of Ankara, which shaped the boundaries of modern Syria, stipulated that the former Ottoman tomb would remain a Turkish exclave within the new Syria, flying the Turkish flag and protected by an honor guard of Turkish soldiers.

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Islamic State/ISIS Opens First Consulate in Islamist Turkey

The so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) intends to inaugurate its first diplomatic mission in Istanbul in order to provide consular services for all who wish to join the extremist group in Iraq, reported Turkish daily Aydinlik as saying.

Abu-Omar Al-Tunisi, the ISIS de facto head of foreign relations issued a statement, saying that the Islamic Caliphate is determined to launch its first diplomatic mission in a friendly and Muslim country. He further noted that the ISIS hopes that the bilateral relations with Ankara will witness more developments under the aegis of newly-elected president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

ISIS also claims that its consulate in Istanbul will pay the hospital bills of all wounded Islamist militants who traveled to turkey to receive medical treatment.

CHP (Republican People’s Party) , a leading Turkish opposing party issued a communique condemning Turkish government decision to allow ISIS to open a legal diplomatic office in Çankaya – the central and elegant metropolitan district of the city of Istanbul.

Islamic State ISIS Opens First Consulate in Islamist Turkey FrontPage Magazine