It has been four months since Al-Monitor published the article “Are Turkish troops trapped at Syrian tomb?” We have been seeing frequent news reports that Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga forces fighting at Kobani are rotated every two months. But interestingly, we don't see any reports on the rotation of the Turkish troops guarding the Tomb of Suleiman Shah, which is considered to be sovereign Turkish territory in Syria. The same soldiers who were deployed at the tomb at the end of April 2014 are still guarding it 11 months later.

The question is how come these elite troops of the Turkish Special Forces have not been rotated after 11 months, despite their service under highly stressful, rough and uncertain conditions. The first explanation one hears plays to the pride of Turkish nationalists and generals. After all, they feel these soldiers are so well trained and used to serving under difficult conditions that there is no need to rotate them. A retired special forces colonel who spoke to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity said, “These are tough guys, very experienced and disciplined. They can survive in any challenging environment. They have been trained for these harsh physical and mental conditions.”

But what about the families they left behind? Although Turkish generals tell their wives, “Your misfortune is to be married to the best,” such flattery no longer impresses relatives. Journalist Metehan Demir in a recent report quoting the families of soldiers serving at the tomb wrote: “Normally soldiers guarding the Tomb of Suleiman Shah are rotated every two to three months. Now they have not been rotated for 11 months. Is this a decision by Turkey or is it because the IS [Islamic State] is not allowing it?”

Demir says there are families who claim they have been seriously affected. Sources close to the soldiers’ families speaking to Al-Monitor also emphasize growing concerns of the relatives, especially after the recent killing of two Japanese hostages and the Jordanian pilot. The same sources say soldiers were told they would be rotated after three months. There were in fact attempts to rotate the elite troops in September and November 2014, but this appeared to be impossible because of the conditions in Syria. In other words, Turkey had tried to rotate its troops stationed at the tomb but did not succeed, which of course was a massive disappointment for the soldiers and their families.