Two Turkish guards at the entrance of the tomb. (Click the picture to access my Diigo account)

The fighting in Syria has yet to stop and with many different nations included in its fighting, Turkey seems to be one of the most affected. The Turkish government had a tomb of a major historical figure, Suleyman Shah, the grandfather of the founder of the Ottoman Empire, in the midst of the fighting and while at first the war posed little to no threat to the tomb, recently the war had been creeping closer and closer. In a recent article in the New York Times author Sebnem Arsu stated that the Turkish government saw the tomb as a “point of vulnerability for Turkey” but with the removal of the tomb, and the guards, it see’s that threat as being eliminated. Tensions between Syria, its rebel groups, and Turkey have been tight since the fighting started and the removal of this tomb marks a major turning point in their relations. The Syrians were not happy about this mission calling it a “flagrant aggression” because Turkey did not wait for permission from Damascus to mount it.

In related news, when the tomb was moved, the Turks retreated to a safer location still within Syrian borders. Whilst stationed there, the Turks raised the Turkish flag which was seen as a threat by local rebel groups, as stated in an article in the Daily News Egypt by Mahmoud Mostafa. This again just raises tensions between the two countries who are dangerously close to each other. For now Turkey only seems to be concerned with the removal of the tomb and really does not want to get involved, more than it already has, in the civil war that has been tearing at Syria for nearly 4 years.

Turkey has assisted in various UN missions to try and end the civil war in Syria but nothing to the extent that would disrupt the delicate relationship between these two countries. Since these two countries border each other, and they have long-term connections to each other, any super aggressive notion could very well disrupt the delicate balance between the two. It is difficult to say wether Turkey will get anymore involved in this conflict than it already it.