Turkey Says IS Nearing Shah Tomb, Seeks Parliament OK for Military Steps

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Turkey on Tuesday said Islamic State (IS) militants were advancing on a tiny exclave considered Turkish territory in northern Syria, but insisted it was still in control of the land despite reports its guards there were encircled.

The tomb of Suleyman Shah, the grandfather of the founder of the Ottoman Empire Osman I, on the Euphrates river, is Turkish territory under a 1920s treaty and still guarded by a few dozen Turkish troops.

The pro-government Yeni Safak daily had reported earlier that the 36 Turkish soldiers guarding the tomb had been overwhelmed by a group of some 1,100 IS militants. 

It suggested that the troops could now be held hostage by the militants.

Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arninc acknowledged that IS militants were advancing on the tomb but played down speculation that the situation was critical.

"IS militants are now very close to the tomb but our soldiers are still on duty with their equipment," he told reporters in televised comments after a cabinet meeting in Ankara.

He did not give further details on the condition of the troops.

Turkey, a NATO member, has previously warned that it would consider an attack on Suleyman Shah as an attack on its sovereign territory to which it would respond in kind.

The tomb is located around 25 kilometers (15 miles) south of the Turkish border in northern Syria, much of which is now under the control of IS militants.

Details of Turkey's control of the tomb are kept mostly secret and it is not clear how Ankara keeps the guards resupplied or how its troops are moved in and and out for their patrol missions.

The 1921 treaty stipulating the tomb remains Turkish territory was signed between Turkey and France, which was then the colonial power in Syria. 

Turkish authorities at the time recognized France's then mandate for control of Syrian territory in return for recognition of its own borders.

Meanwhile, the Turkish government on Tuesday said it has asked parliament to authorize military action in Iraq and Syria to halt the advance of IS jihadists.

Lawmakers are due on Thursday to debate the motion after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that Ankara was going to take a more active role in the fight against IS.

"We drafted a text that will meet all the demands and eliminate the risks and threats," Deputy PM Arinc told reporters after a cabinet meeting that was unusually attended by Turkey's top general, Necdet Ozel.

"It will be a very extensive mandate, so that we don't require a new one in the future. It looks like a good text and hopefully all the parties in parliament will back it," Arinc told reporters in Ankara in televised comments.

Turkey has remained tight-lipped about what its military intervention will entail and Arinc indicated that parliament mandate will be kept as broad as possible to allow the government freedom to decide. 

Ankara is being pressed by the West to allow the transit of its territory by Western and Arab forces carrying out air strikes against IS and to allow U.S. jets to conduct sorties from its Incirlik air base. 

But it could also go further by sending Turkish military forces to join the attacks against IS. 

Arinc indicated all options were on the table, without committing to a course of action.

"It includes all of these options. We are a decisive government. We are well aware of what's going on in and around Turkey," he said.

Erdogan has pressed for the creation of a safe zone inside Syria -- backed by a no-fly zone -- to host refugees and ensure Turkey's security.

But it remains unclear how a safe zone extending from the Turkish border deep inside Syria could be created without a major incursion by ground troops that would be hugely risky. 

IS militants advancing on the Syrian town of Ain al-Arab, known as Kobane to the Kurds, have now moved to within a few kilometers of the Turkish border.

Ankara has justified its low-key role so far in the fight against IS by saying its hands were tied by concerns over the fate of dozens of Turkish hostages abducted by IS in Iraq.

But these hostages were freed in early September, prompting what Erdogan has acknowledged as a major change in Turkish policy.

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