PM: TURKEY AGAINST BIDS TO JUDAIZE AL-QUDS

Ankara, 7 Rabiul Awwal 1436/29 December 2014 (MINA) – Turkish Prime Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu has expressed his country’s support for Palestinians in their efforts to resist the Israeli regime’s bid to “reduce the Islamic character” of East Jerusalem Al-Quds.

The Turkish premier stressed that Ankara will not accept “any impositions concerning al-Aqsa” and “will do whatever needs to be done internationally to protect” Al-Quds as well as the al-Aqsha Mosque, Press TV quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting on Monday.

“The Palestinians. We have a common stance. We back this stance against the reduction or the elimination of” East Al-Quds’ Islamic character, he told reporters in the central Turkish city of Konya on Sunday, a day after meeting with Hamas Political Bureau chief Khaled Meshaal.

Davutoglu also noted that Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas would also visit Turkey in January.

The Tel Aviv regime’s regular raids and restrictions on the al-Aqsha Mosque anger Palestinian people who consider them as part of Israel’s plan to Judaize and desecrate the holy site in East Al-Quds.

Over the past weeks, the Al-Aqsha Mosque has been the scene of clashes between Palestinian worshippers and Israeli settlers and troops.

In October, Israel ordered a full closure of the mosque but later opened the holy site after widespread protests.

The al-Aqsha Mosque compound, located in Israeli-occupied al-Quds, is a flashpoint holy Islamic site. The location of the compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, is the holiest site in Judaism. The mosque is Islam’s third-holiest after Masjid al-Haram in Mecca and Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina.

Over the past decades, Israel has tried to change the demographic makeup of al-Quds by constructing illegal settlements, destroying historical sites and expelling the local Palestinian population. (T/P011/P3)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)