Turkey launched an overnight military operation into neighboring Syria to evacuate troops guarding an Ottoman tomb and to move the crypt to a new location, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Sunday.

Davutoglu said nearly 600 troops and 100 tanks and armored personnel carriers were involved in the operation. One group crossed into Syrian territory to reach the tomb, just over the border near the town of Kobani, while a second group took control of an area near the Turkish border where authorities plan to move the tomb.

One soldier was killed in an accident during the operation, Davutoglu said. The troops hoisted the Turkish flag on the future site of the tomb, he said.