TURKEY CONDEMNS ISRAEL’S LAND GRAB IN AL QUDS
Ankara, 8 Dzulhijjah 1435/2 October 2014 (MINA) – Turkey’s Foreign Ministry condemned Israel’s land grab in northeastern Jerusalem and the commencement of a residential construction project of 2,610 new homes.
The Israeli government on Wednesday approved the seizure of five dunam or 5,000 thousand square metres of Palestinian land in Givat HaMatos in northeastern Jerusalem, in order to widen a road leading to a Jewish-only settlement, Anadolu Agency quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting, Thursday.
The Foreign Minister, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu claimed the housing project is not valid according to international laws.
“It is well known that Israel is trying to change the cultural, humane and religious structure of the Palestinian land, which is currently under invasion. The issue has been brought to attention in 2012 as well,” the statement said.
According to the 2012 publication of an Israeli non-governmental organization’s website called “Terrestrial Jerusalem”, the Givat Hamatos plans are divided into four statutory plans starting with 2,610 residential units.
The plan continues with the structure of another 549 units for plan B, 813 units for plan C and completes with 1,100 hotel rooms.
Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu (born 5 February 1968, Alanya, Turkey) is the current foreign minister of Turkey and also a member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, where he represents Antalya Province. First elected to Parliament in the 2002 general election, he is a founding member of the Justice and Development Party (AKP).
Çavuşoğlu graduated from Ankara University in 1988 where he studied international relations. He then received a masters in economics from Long Island University in New York, and doctorates from Bilkent University and the London School of Economics, where he was for a time president of the Turkish Society.
While serving in parliament, he has chaired the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population. In November 2009, he met the foreign minister of Russia, Sergey Lavrov, in the context of a report that the Assembly is preparing on the Soviet famine of 1932–1933.
Çavuşoğlu joined the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in 2003 and soon after was named the head of the Turkish delegation and a vice-president of the Assembly. During the January 2010 session of the Assembly, he was nominated and elected on 25 January 2010 to replace outgoing President Lluís Maria De Puig of Spain.(T/P002/R03)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)
