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Al-Aqsa Mosque belongs to all Muslims, not only Palestinians, says Erdogan

July 24, 2017 at 11:52 am

The Dome of the Rock Mosque can be seen in the centre of the Noble Sanctuary of Al-Aqsa in Jerusalem on 23 July 2017 [Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu Agency]

Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that Al-Al-Aqsa Mosque belongs to the 1.7 billion Muslims worldwide, not only the Palestinians. Turkey’s President made his comments while speaking to journalists at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport before leaving on a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar.

“No one can expect the Islamic world to remain unresponsive after the humiliation Muslims suffered with the restrictions at the Noble Sanctuary,” he explained. “Turkey has expressed its strong and public resentment and condemnation of the Israeli restrictions imposed on Al-Aqsa.” Erdogan added that Turkey will continue to work to establish peace in the area and support “our Palestinian brothers’ fight for freedom and justice.”

In his role as the President of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s 2016 summit, Erdogan called upon Israel once more to act in line with international law and basic human values. “I would like to underline once again that they [the Israelis] should avoid steps that escalate tensions,” he concluded.

Read: Israeli restrictions at Al-Aqsa unacceptable