Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has denounced Israel describing the nation as a ‘cruel terrorist state’ in a speech in Ankara Saturday in where he was reacting to recent police clashes with Palestinians in Jerusalem.
His comments came after more than 200 people were wounded when Israeli riot police clashed with Palestinians at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound late Friday.
This latest incident capped a week of unrest in the Holy City and the occupied West Bank.
‘Israel, the cruel terrorist state, attacks the Muslims in Jerusalem whose only concern is to protect their homes … and their sacred values in a savage manner devoid of ethics,’ Erdogan said.
Read Also: Scores Of Palestinians Hurt As Israel Police Storm Al Aqsa
The violence in Jerusalem was ‘an attack on all Muslims’, he said, adding that ‘protecting the honour of Jerusalem is a duty for every Muslim’.
He urged all countries, in particular Muslim countries, to react and called on the United Nations to ‘stop this persecution’.
Earlier Saturday, Erdogan took to Twitter to condemn the violence.
‘We strongly condemn the abominable attacks against the Al-Aqsa mosque… which are unfortunately carried out every Ramadan,‘ he wrote, referring to the Muslim month of fasting.
‘We will continue to be at the side of our Palestinian brothers and sisters in all circumstances,’ Erdogan pledged.
On Friday, Turkey’s foreign minister called on the Israeli government to end its ‘aggressive and provocative‘ policy against Palestinians.
Reports say around 300 people demonstrated Saturday outside the Israeli consulate in Istanbul in support of the Palestinians in Jerusalem.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK