Turkey launched an overnight military operation into neighbouring Syria to evacuate troops guarding an Ottoman tomb, authorities said Sunday.
TRT television broadcaster said ground troops backed by warplanes crossed into Syrian territory to reach the tomb, just over the border near the town of Sarrin and not far from Kobani, the town once surrounded by ISIS jihadists.
Private NTV television said one soldier was killed in the operation. The Turkish military later issued a statement saying the soldier had been killed in an "accident" en route to the tomb, without elaborating.
On Twitter, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the tomb of Suleyman Shah, the grandfather of Osman I, founder of the Ottoman Empire, has been moved into Turkey. The prime minister said about 100 military vehicles, including 39 tanks, took part in the mission to bring 38 Turkish troops home.
He said Turkey did not seek permission or help from other parties before making the move, but did notify coalition forces once the operation had begun.
The tomb, about 35 kilometres from Turkey on the banks of the Euphrates River, was in Syria's embattled Aleppo province and is considered Turkish territory.
Davutoglu said the tomb would be moved to a "new location in Syria." He did not elaborate, though he was expected to give remarks later Sunday.
Kobani was the focus of U.S. airstrikes as Kurdish forces battled militants of the Islamic State group, who hold about a third of Iraq and neighbouring Syria in their self-declared caliphate. Turkey stayed out of the battle at the time, which saw Kurds ultimately push out the ISIS extremists.
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