Posted on 10/02/2010 9:51:00 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Eighteen troops belonging to Ottoman Empire found in West Bank cave some 92 years after their deaths
The remains of 18 soldiers belonging to the Ottoman Empire have been found in the West Bank, the Turkish TRT and Palestinian Ma'an news agencies reported Thursday.
According to the reports, the soldiers' remains were found in a cave near Nablus, some 92 years after their deaths. Preliminary results yielded by the remains indicate that they were killed by British soldiers in 1918.
The rare findings prompted the Nablus authorities to order a funeral march to be held in the soldiers' honor
Friday, after prayer services. However the Palestinian Authority intervened and postponed the ceremony to an as yet undisclosed time.
The Palestinian leadership says the Turkish government may demand the remains and the right to hold the funerals, however Ankara has not yet commented on the matter.
Human remains expert Dr Issa Surei countered claims made earlier in the week, saying on Friday that skeletons unearthed near Nablus were not Ottoman soldiers.
The bodies were found in a cave near Aqaba village on Thursday, and initial investigations suggested they were Ottoman soldiers slain by British troops in 1918, the Jerusalem-based Turkish news network TRT-Turk said.
Further investigations revealed, according to Surei, that the burial area dated back not to the late Ottoman period, but as far back as the Roman and Byzantine empires.
No helmets or clothes were found in the cemetery to support the initial claim that the remains were Ottoman, Surei added.
Dr Hamdan Taha, from the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, said investigations by his own team revealed that there could be as many as 50 skeletons at the grave sight, far more than originally thought.
Turkish officials inspect scene
On Friday, Deputy governor of Nablus Anan Atira met with a Turkish delegation including Turkish representative to the Palestinian Authority Shakir Tulner, and visited the Aqaba cave where the remains were found.
Atira told the delegation that she and teams from the ministry of antiquities had received directives from President Mahmoud Abbas to examine the remains thoroughly.
All of the relevant representative bodies were contacted, Atira said, and experts continued to work to conclusively identify the remains.
Has the UN blamed Israel yet?
Too bad we don't use napalm any more. Perfect target.
No helmets or clothes were found in the cemetery to support the initial claim that the remains were Ottoman, Surei added.
With no uniforms how did they ever get the idea that they soldiers let alone Turkish?
Knowing Pali funeral marches, the corpses may stand up and join in.
Ping
*gasp* Peter O’Toole?!
I hate spell-checkers.
From “Lawrence of Arabia” to Priam of “Troy.”
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Whoops! Thanks IYellAtMyTV!
Crack group of archaeologists they have on this site.
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