Syrian civil war

Kurdish fighters from the People's Protection Units (YPG) in Syria have reportedly handed over a Syrian refugee, who was being sought in connection to a murder in Turkey, to authorities in the southeastern Turkish province of ??rnak.

The world will have to cooperate with Syria to halt the trade in looted antiquities that helps fund jihadist groups, Syria's culture minister has said, putting the onus on Turkey to stop the smuggling across their shared frontier.

Turkey has criticized Britain for taking too long to inform it about three London schoolgirls who travelled to Turkey last week, possibly en route to join Islamist militants in Syria.

Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Ar?nç said he hoped the girls would be found, but that it would be Britain, not Turkey, to blame if they were not.

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants have abducted at least 90 people from Assyrian Christian villages in northeastern Syria, a monitor that tracks violence in Syria said on Feb. 24.
   

Turkey did not contact the armed wing of the Syrian Kurds' Democratic Union Party (PYD) or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) prior to the evacuation operation of its troops from an historic Ottoman tomb inside Syria, a spokesperson for the presidency has said, reiterating the country still regards the PYD as a terrorist organization.

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.

The government had to relocate the historical artifact from ISIL to Kurdish-controlled Syrian soil The relocation of the Turkish tomb in Syria with an army operation overnight on Feb. 21 could be taken as the Turkish government?s second retreat regarding pressure from the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) in Syria and Iraq in the last six months.

Turkey informed the Syrian Consulate in Istanbul about a military operation to evacuate its military personnel protecting the Tomb of Süleyman ?ah in northern Syria, but Ankara did not await permission from Damascus, the Syrian government said Feb. 22.

Turkey delivered a diplomatic note to the Syrian consulate in Istanbul to inform Damascus that the Tomb of Süleyman ?ah was being temporarily moved to a new site in Syria corresponding to the size of the previous one, to the north of E?mesi village, according to Turkish diplomatic sources.