Aleppo, Syria
Coordinates: 36.879167, 38.105556
The Tomb of Suleyman Shah is, according to Ottoman tradition, the grave (tomb, mausoleum) housing the relics of Suleyman Shah, grandfather of Osman I, the founder of the Ottoman Empire.
Suleyman Shah is believed to have drowned in the Euphrates river near castle Qal’at Ja’bar in present-day Raqqa Governorate, Syria, and was according to legend buried near that castle, in a tomb.
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 (1923), 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 (53 mi) northward on the Euphrates River in Syria, 27 kilometres (17 mi) 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 (590 ft) from the Turkish border, 22 kilometres (14 mi) west of Kobanî and just north of the Syrian village of Ashme, evacuating the approximately 40 Turkish soldiers guarding the tomb. The Turkish government has stated that the relocation is temporary, and that it does not constitute any change to the status of the tomb site.
The 2003 Protocol between Turkey and Syria gave Turkey transit rights through Syrian territory to access the tomb in order to maintain and repair it. The tomb’s land continues to be the sovereign territory of Turkey.
