Turkey enters Syria 'at short notice' to move Suleyman Shah's relics to area under its control

Hundreds of Turkish troops reportedly entered war-torn northern Syria along with armoured vehicles in order to destroy a historic tomb and move the remains to a different site close to the Turkish border, in an area under Turkish military control.

The forces have also evacuated the troops guarding the tomb in the region, the BBC reported.

The Syrian government, which has lost control over most of northern Syria due to the country's civil war, condemned the incursion as "flagrant aggression."

It said that Turkey had informed its Istanbul consulate about the operation but had not waited for Syria's approval.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the armed forces have carried out a "successful operation which is beyond all kinds of appreciation."

He said that the relic at the tomb and the Turkish soldiers guarding it had been brought closer to the Turkish border "safe and sound" and the existing mausoleum had been destroyed.

Suleyman Shah, who lived from about 1178 to 1236 and died in the 13th Century, was the grandfather of the founder of the Ottoman Empire, Osman I.

Turkey considered the shrine sovereign territory.

The Islamic State (IS) had threatened to attack the shrine last year.