Halit Avc

A soldier who died in an accident during the Turkish army's operation to evacuate a historic tomb in northern Syria has been laid to rest in his hometown, the Black Sea province of Trabzon.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavu?o?lu has conducted a number of exchanges with foreign counterparts to inform them about the evacuation of the Tomb of Süleyman ?ah in Syria on Feb. 22.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavu?o?lu exchanged phone calls with his counterparts from the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia and Denmark, as well as NATO?s secretary-general, after the completion of the evacuation of the Tomb of Süleyman ?ah in Syria on Feb. 22.

Turkish opposition parties have harshly reacted to the evacuation of the Tomb of Süleyman ?ah in northern Syria, accusing the government of abandoning the country's only territory outside its borders.

Turkey has evacuated its military personnel protecting the Tomb of Süleyman ?ah in northern Syria as well as the artifacts in the mausoleum in an operation jointly conducted by the intelligence organization and the Turkish army, a few days after reports suggested that the tomb was besieged by jihadists belonging to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).