Turkish military convoy passes through Kurdish-controlled Kobani in Syria

KOBANI, Syria, Feb. 21 (UPI) -- A Turkish military convoy sending men to relieve a garrison of soldiers at the tomb of an Ottoman figure in Syria passed through Kurdish-held Kobani on Saturday.

The passage comes almost a month after Syrian rebels and Kurdish Popular Protection Units, known as the YPG, bolstered by U.S.-led airstrikes, seized control of Kobani from Islamic State militants after nearly four months of brutal fighting.

Traditionally an adversary of independence-seeking Kurdish groups, Turkey was not moving through the town in aggression, and sources told the BBC that the move was coordinated with Kurdish forces.

The convoy was headed to relieve some 40 soldiers guarding the mausoleum of Suleyman Shah, grandfather of Osman I, who founded the Ottoman Empire. Though located in Syria, the tomb, which sits on the Euphrates River 20 miles from Kobani, is officially a part of Turkish territory due to a 1921 treaty.

The war in Syria has put Turkey in awkward positions regarding its opposition to the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which has since the 1980s involved itself in armed struggle with Turkey for Kurdish independence.

The YPG is predominantly based in Syria and is separate from the PKK but considers itself fraternally connected to the group, which has been classified as a terrorist organization by Turkey and the West.

Since last year, however, Kurdish groups have been one the strongest U.S. allies on the ground against IS forces in Iraq and Syria.