«I appeal to all my fellow citizens and Muslims around the world: that all those who have the means (…) make a visit to Jerusalem, to the Al-Aqsa Mosque”, Erdogan said. “Come and protect all together Jerusalem”, he added. The Israeli authorities had installed metal detectors at the entrances to the esplanade following the assassination on 14 July of two Israeli policemen by three Israeli Arabs. In response, protest demonstrations were launched against the detectors, during which clashes erupted repeatedly between Palestinians and Israeli security forces. Five Palestinians were killed. Three civils israéliens ont par ailleurs été tués pendant la même période par un Palestinien dans une colonie israélienne en Cisjordanie occupée.
Faced with this outbreak of violence and at the request of Jordan, official guardian of the Muslim holy sites of Jerusalem, Israel decided early Tuesday to remove the metal detectors and replace them with other security measures.
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“Under the pretext of fighting terrorism, it is an attempt to take the Al-Aqsa mosque from Muslims”, added the Turkish president, who was addressing members of the ruling party (AKP, Islamic-conservative) for its weekly meeting in Parliament. The “legitimacy” of the State of Israel “has meaning only in terms of the respect not only of its own rights, but also those of Palestine and the Palestinians”, he said. The esplanade of the mosques is the third holy place of islam and the holiest place in Judaism known as the Temple Mount.
AFP TR by karawan Rachid
