page_title: Tomb of Suleyman Shah
section_title: Legal status of tomb
hierarchical_section_title: Tomb of Suleyman Shah / Legal status of tomb
caption_attribution_description: English: View of Qal'at Ja'bar (Syria) from the north, surrounded by the waters of Lake AssadNederlands: Qal'at Ja'bar (Syrië) gezien vanuit het noorden, met het Assad-meer op de achtergrondTürkçe: Assad Gölü’nün sularıyla çevrili Caber Kalesi’nin kuzeyden görünümü.
context_page_description: The Tomb of Suleyman Shah is, according to Ottoman tradition, the grave housing the relics of Suleyman Shah, grandfather of Osman I, the founder of the Ottoman Empire. This legendary tomb has since 1236 had three locations, all in present-day Syria.
  From 1236 until 1973, its first location was near castle Qal'at Ja'bar in present-day Raqqa Governorate, Syria.
  Under the Treaty of Lausanne, breaking up the Ottoman Empire into Turkey, Syria, and other states, the tomb site at Qal'at Ja'bar remained the property of Turkey.
  In 1973, when the area around castle Qal'at Ja'bar was due to be flooded under Lake Assad, the tomb by agreement between Turkey and Syria was moved 85 kilometres northward on the Euphrates River in Syria, 27 kilometres from the Turkish border.
  In early 2015, during the Syrian Civil War, Turkey unilaterally moved the tomb again to a new site in Syria, about 180 metres from the Turkish border, 22 kilometres west of Kobanî and just north of the Syrian village of Ashme, evacuating the approximately 40 Turkish soldiers guarding the tomb.
context_section_description: Article 9 of the Treaty of Ankara, signed by France and Turkey in 1921, states that the tomb of Suleyman Shah (at its first location) "shall remain, with its appurtenances, the property of Turkey, who may appoint guardians for it and may hoist the Turkish flag there"
  Initially, an 11-man symbolic garrison of Turkish soldiers were guarding the tomb.
  The Protocol of 2003 between the Republic of Turkey and the Syrian Arab Republic regarding the Tomb of Suleyman Shah (at its second location) gave Turkey transit rights to the Tomb through Syrian territory, in order to maintain and carry out repairs at the Tomb.
  Since 2014, the official position of Turkey appears to be that the land around the second location (1973 – February 2015) of the tomb is or was the sovereign territory of Turkey. Turkey required visitors to the site to carry passports. However, there is no evidence to date that other countries, including Syria, have publicly supported this position.
  The Syrian position is that the first relocation relinquished any Turkish rights over the sovereignty of the site, and the latest relocation of the tomb in February 2015 (to its third location) is a breach of the Treaty of Ankara.
caption: Qal'at Ja'bar castle in Syria, as it is surrounded since 1973 by the waters of Lake Assad. Previously, this was a fortified hilltop overlooking the Euphrates valley. According to legend Suleyman Shah in 1236 drowned in the Euphrates near this castle, and was buried near the castle. With the creation of this lake in 1973 the tomb was relocated, 85 kilometres (53 mi) northward on the Euphrates River, 27 kilometres (17 mi) from the Turkish border.
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