Tomb raiders: Turkey stages daring operation in Syria to evacuate troops and save historic Ottoman remains

Almost 600 Turkish troops staged a daring incursion overnight yesterday deep into Syria, evacuating Turkish soldiers guarding a historic tomb who had been stranded in territory controlled by Islamic State (IS) jihadists.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the mission had succeeded, with the soldiers returning safely home and also bringing back the tomb containing the remains of Suleyman Shah, grandfather of the Ottoman empire's founder, Osman I.

He also made the surprise announcement that the Turkish troops had seized control of a new area inside Syria close to the Turkish border where the tomb will be relocated within days.

Turkish television showed pictures of troops planting the Turkish flag at the new location in the nighttime operation, which was the first such incursion by Turkish troops into Syria since the start of the civil war there nearly four years ago.

There were reportedly 40 Turkish soldiers guarding the mausoleum complex of Suleyman Shah on the Euphrates River, which under a 1920s treaty is considered sovereign Turkish territory and carries huge symbolic importance to Turks as a link to their pre-Ottoman past.