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Turkey vows support for soldiers protecting exclave

29 October 2014 00:17 (UTC +04:00)

In a message released for Turkey’s Republic Day posted on the presidency's official website, Erdogan addressed the Turkish soldiers: "Turkey will continue to be together with you with all its might in case of any attack to our land, our flag, our soldiers and to the sacred memory of Suleyman Shah."

He also said that the entire country was proud of its soldiers, who were “heroically defending our land."

Erdogan had given a similar message of support to the Turkish soldiers earlier this month on the occasion of Eid al-Adha.

Suleyman Shah was the grandfather of Osman I, the founder of the Ottoman Empire. His tomb is a Turkish exclave located 30 kilometers south of the Turkish border.

In March, Turkey’s 60 Special Forces soldiers were deployed to protect the tomb on the Euphrates (Firat) River, when the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militants took control of nearby villages.