PROTECTION OF THE TOMB OF SULEYMAN SHAH IN THE REPUBLICAN PERIOD

Abstract

The protection issue of Suleiman Shah Tomb and some of its surrounding land which is the only piece of land outside its boundaries of Turkish Republic has continued until today as a state policy of Turkey's Republic. At the same time this land and tomb was obtained with the Ankara Agreement and as a result of military and political successes in the process of national struggle and it has been transferred as a heritage to the Republic of Turkey. From time to time tomb's maintenance, repair and providing security issues has been observed various troubles during the Republican era. It is a fact that this homeland soil which is a Turkish eksklav was faced with various risks by problems caused by the particularly Syria in certain periods. Syrian government was confronted with the Turkish Government due to built firstly Tabka and then Teşrin Dam which would threaten the tomb by Syria. These problems resolved under international law with the implementation of method of transport and the implementation of the project fortifications. In 2011, after the start of the civil war in Syria, Tomb of Suleyman Shah and Respect Police Station in Karakozak has become vulnerable against of attacks and threats by terrorist groups in the region. The Turkish Government has decided the Shah Euphrates Operation to take measures to this events and the Tomb of Suleyman Shah and Respect Police Station was moved to Syrian's Eşme which is the adjacent border of Turkey by Turkish Armed Forces carried out a military operation in 2015. This military action has led to criticisms and reactions of the opposition and various political environment in TurkeySTRUCTURED ABSTRACT The Tomb of Suleyman Shah, Respect Station and land around these structures which is the firstly 8797 square meters and then approximately 10,000 square meters are the only piece of land outside its boundaries of Turkish Republic. According to international law, this piece of land should be considered as an Turkey's eksklave within Syria's boundry. The tomb of Suleyman Shah was mentioned a Turkish tomb for centuries and in accordance with Article 9 of Ankara Agreement which made with the French on the process of National Struggle has been accepted as a land of the new Turkish goverment. Firstly including the Treaty of Lausanne, this situation has maintained its legitimacy in the framework of bilateral agreements concluded between France and the Syrian Arab Republic and Turkey. Issue of Suleyman Shah Tomb's maintenance, repair and protection during the Republican era has been evaluated in a state policy axis. However, from time to time It was observed that the physical conditions of the tomb of Suleyman Shah and the point of supply of needs of soldiers who guard the tomb have been experiencing a variety of problems. In 1926, the Tomb of Suleyman Shah has also been linked to the Ministry of Education with Law the Number of 677 of Tekke, lodges and shrines issued in 1925. This under the law, Turbedar's fees received from the state for jobs related cleaning of tomb, maintenance and e.t.c. have been cut. Even though Turbedar made various attempts to the Ministries of Interior and Education about this issue, he could not get a result from the correspondence between Ministry of Education, the General Directorate of Foundations and Religious Affairs. However, it was observed that protecting the tomb had been continued by the soldiers who were transfered from Urfa at the first week of each month in 1930s and 1940s. In the period of Prime Minister Şükrü Saraçoğlu(in 1943) was asked to appoint an antiquities expert staff and guard to the tomb of Suleyman Shah but some changes have been made to the organization because of the unsuitability of staff. As a result of the efforts in this period, the main specialist on staff was constituted and provided a guard for museums and employed a young twenty experts in the field of employment, adding miniature specialist staff and it was made to raise the salary currently staffed with officers. However, in this process also, Staff employment was not provided for the maintenance of the tomb of Suleyman Shah. It was understood from the memories of Refik Halit Karay who is a famous novel and story writer and Antalya deputy Hikmet Turan Dağlıoğlu's speech that was a statements in this regard in the Parliament in 1946 there was significant deficiency related to maintenance, repair and the physical conditions of the tomb in the 1930s and 1940s. The government has allocated a share as a precaution in the 1947 budget of the Ministry of Education and scope of allowance of The General Directorate of Antiquities and Museums to repair the tomb of Suleyman Shah. During this period, due to any repairs was not made, Tomb of Suleyman Shah was also included the other monument list in 1949 repaired as necessary in a hurry. In 1949, due to toward willingness to increase soldiers' salaries protecting the tomb of Suleyman Shah by The Ministry of Interior and decision of the Council of Ministers about ration allowance of a corporal, eight soldiers and a noncommissioned officer serving in the tomb station signed by President Ismet Inonu decided to be increased to 50 pounds. In 1950, it was decided to reopen to public including the Tomb of Suleyman Shah in the Urfa Ja'ber Castle and the tomb of the 19 great Turks in another document signed by President İsmet İnönü with regard to the article on the Ministry of Education. In the early years of the ruling Democratic Party, Konya deputy Saffet Gürol gave a briefing to Prime Minister Adnan Menderes at Parliament after visiting to Syria, Lebanon and Jordan and then Menderes was also asked from Gürol to submit a report on this subject and asked from him to be sent to the Prime Ministry. Gürol has prepared a detailed report related to some problems which were about needing maintenance and repair of Suleyman Shah Tomb, people who work as Türbedar uninformed about the tomb, soldiers had some hardships and what t

Özet

Milli Mücadele sürecindeki askeri ve siyasi başarılar sonucunda Ankara Antlaşması ile elde edilen, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti'ne bir ecdad mirası olarak devredilen, yeni Türk devletinin kendi sınırları dışındaki tek vatan toprağı olan Süleyman Şah Türbesi ve onun etrafındaki bir kısım arazinin korunması meselesi Türkiye Cumhuriyet'nin bir devlet politikası olarak günümüze değin sürdürülmüştür. Cumhuriyet döneminde türbenin bakımı, onarımı ve güvenliğinin sağlanması konularında zaman zaman çeşitli aksaklıkların yaşandığı gözlenmiştir. Diğer taraftan bir Türk eksklavı olan bu vatan toprağının belirli dönemlerde özellikle Suriye tarafından kaynaklanan sorunlar çerçevesinde çeşitli risklerle karşı karşıya kaldığı bir gerçektir. Suriye'nin önce Tabka, sonra da Teşrin Barajı'nı türbeyi tehdit edecek şekilde inşa etmesi üzerine Türk Hükümeti ile Suriye yönetimi karşı karşıya gelmiştir. Bu sorunlar uluslararası hukuk çerçevesinde ilkinde taşıma yöntemi ile ikincisinde ise tahkimat projesinin uygulanmasıyla çözümlenebilmiştir. 2011'de Suriye'deki iç savaşın başlamasından sonra ise Karakozak'ta bulunan Süleyman Şah Türbesi ve Saygı Karakolu bölgedeki terör gruplarının saldırılarına ve tehditlerine açık hale gelmiştir. Türk Hükümeti buna bir önlem olmak bakımından Şah Fırat Operasyonu'na karar vermiş ve Süleyman Şah Türbesi ile Saygı Karakolu Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri'nin gerçekleştirdiği hareketle 2015'te Türkiye sınırına bitişik Suriye Eşmesi'ne taşınmıştır. Bu askeri hareket Türkiye'de muhalefetin ve çeşitli siyasi çevrelerin tepkisine ve eleştirisine yol açmıştır