Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday called on Muslims to visit Jerusalem in order to express solidarity with the Palestinian people amid their recent clashes with the Israelis near the Gaza Strip border.
ANKARA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th November, 2018) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday called on Muslims to visit Jerusalem in order to express solidarity with the Palestinian people amid their recent clashes with the Israelis near the Gaza Strip border."By encouraging our citizens to visit Jerusalem, we will not let the occupation forces put out its sacred lights. No one will be able to destroy Palestine when Palestinians are protected," Erdogan said at the meeting of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation (COMCEC) of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
Erdogan added that problems in the middle East could be resolved only through the joint efforts of Islamic countries.
Tensions between the Israelis and the Palestinians near the Gaza border worsened in late March. Since then, the Palestinians have fired almost 500 missiles and mortar shells at southern Israel, while the Israelis conducted strikes on over 150 buildings and facilities in the Gaza Strip. The latest surge of violence in Gaza erupted on November 12 after a Hamas commander was killed in a covert Israeli operation. Numerous causalities were reported on both sides.
For decades, Israel has been in conflict with the Palestinians, who have been seeking diplomatic recognition for their state on the territories of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, which are partially occupied by Israel, and the Gaza Strip. The Israeli government refuses to recognize Palestine as an independent political and diplomatic entity and continues to build settlements in the occupied areas, despite objections from the United Nations.
