Foreign Ministry vehemently denies bargain with jihadists over Turkish territory

Turkey’s Foreign Ministry has categorically denied a report that Ankara has agreed to hand over the tomb of Süleyman Shah, a speck of Turkish territory inside Syria, to jihadists in return for the release of 49 Turkish nationals who they have been keeping hostage since early June.

“The groundless claims are an example of huge irresponsibility,” the Foreign Ministry said in a written press statement released on Aug. 21, the day when daily newspaper Taraf said the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which has been responsible for atrocities across northern Iraq and Syria and which recently renamed itself the Islamic State (IS), asked Turkey to withdraw its troops protecting the tomb in return for the hostages’ release.

“The exploitation of issues such as national security and safety of our citizens is not a behavior which can be accepted in any way and which can be regarded within the framework of press freedom,” the ministry said.

In its report which did not cite any sources, the daily said the militants had given a three-week deadline to Ankara to consider the offer and abandon the tomb. In the event that Ankara fails to vacate the tomb, the militants said they would attack the structure, although the report did not say whether the offer was conveyed to the Turkish side.

“On such a sensitive matter, [media organs] should act in line with journalistic and press ethics; the misleading of the public with groundless, speculative and irresponsible publications should be meticulously avoided. We call on all media organizations to display the required sensitivity on this matter and call on our public not to give credit to these kinds of publications,” the ministry said, while concluding...