Süleyman Şah tomb to be returned to previous location: Turkish PM

ANKARA – Anadolu Agency

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said late on Dec. 11 the tomb of Süleyman Şah, the grandfather of the founder of the Ottoman Empire, would be returned to its previous location in Syria.

Süleyman Şah was a 12th century military leader in the Seljuk Empire, which was among the first Turkish groups to enter and settle in Anatolia. He is the grandfather of Osman I, who founded the Ottoman Empire in the 13th century, which lasted for six centuries and was inherited by the Turkish Republic following the regime change in 1923 through the War of Liberation.

The Syrian tomb of Süleyman Şah was moved within 200 meters of the Turkish border in February 2015, due to fears that Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) would threaten Turkish troops at its original location.

Under the 1921 Treaty of Ankara, the land belonging to the tomb site is considered Turkish territory.

Call for Muslim unity

In his address to Turkish parliament on Dec. 11, Yıldırım called on Muslim countries to unite against the U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital.

“Palestinians are never alone against this unfair, unlawful and arrogant decision,” said the prime minister.

“Islamic countries should move in unity against the U.S. move,” he said.

Yıldırım also said Turkey would not recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital “until the dispute between Palestine and Israel was solved.”

U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement last week to recognize Jerusalem and move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv sparked demonstrations across the Muslim world.