Syrian FM: Turkey’s Incursion into Syria Proves Links with ISIL

Syrian Foreign Ministry slammed on Sunday the “flagrant aggression” of the Turkish operation in Raqqa province, state-run SANA news agency reported.

It is a “suspicious” act that reveals the Turkish government’s close connection with terrorist organizations operating in the area, a Foreign Ministry official said.

About 600 armed Turkish soldiers entered the Syrian territory overnight and relocated Suleyman Shah’s tomb from the northeastern Raqqa province.

The official told SANA news agency that Turkey did not await the Syrian consent to move the tomb after the Turkish FM informed Syria’s consulate in Istanbul of its intent to carry out the relocation on the eve of the transgression act.

Turkey carried out the move without Syria’s consent contrary to procedures usually followed according to the 1921 agreement signed between Turkey and the French occupation authorities back then.

The Foreign Ministry source described the Turkish move, which took place at dawn Sunday, as no less that an act of aggression against Syria, dismissing it as “suspicious” in as much as it unmasks the reality of the Turkish intentions and Turkey’s relationship with the so-called ‘Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’ (ISIL) terrorist organization.

“Turkey went far beyond providing all forms of support to its tools of the gangs of ISIL, al-Nusra Front and other al-Qaeda-linked terrorist organizations to carry out a blatant aggression on the Syrian territory,” the source said.

It added that “the suspicion lies in the fact that this reputed tomb has been all along spared the acts of ISIS, which, on the other hand, has been destroying mosques, churches and tombs in various areas across Syria.

This “confirms the deep connection between the Turkish government and this terrorist organization,” the source highlighted.

He concluded that the Turkish authorities, by breaching the aforementioned agreement, will be responsible for any possible repercussions of this attack.

Syria was hit by a violent unrest since mid-March 2011, where the western media reports accuse countries, mainly the USA, Turkey and Saudi Arabia of orchestrating the civil conflict in the country and providing terrorist groups with money, weapons and trained mercenaries.