Turkey's military incursion into Syria to relocate a tomb surrounded by Islamic State militants and evacuate the soldiers guarding it was a temporary move to safeguard their lives and not a retreat, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday.
The action, which involved tanks, drones and reconnaissance planes as well as several hundred ground troops, was the first of its kind by the Turkish army into Syria since the start of the civil war there nearly four years ago.
"The Suleyman Shah tomb operation is not a retreat, it is a temporary move in order not to risk soldiers' lives," Erdogan said in a speech in Ankara.